Fun in First

A Teaching Blog by Jodi Southard

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Back to School Must Haves

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Every year, a couple of weeks before school starts, I start purchasing things that I need for the school year.  I always seem to find myself wracking my brain to try and remember everything that I need to get.  I decided to make a list of items that I buy EVERY SINGLE YEAR before the school year begins, so I can make sure that I have everything I need.  This list includes all of my must-have back to school items.  I am not including those items that you buy once every couple of years or a new expensive item for your classroom.  I am talking about the consumable items that have to be purchased every year.

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase through one of my links, which helps to support the blog.

1. Crayons, crayons, and more crayons

You can never have enough crayons.  I feel like my students must be eating crayons each year.  They always bring their own at the beginning of the year, but most of those are gone by the second week of school.  I always provide crayons in baskets in my classroom, but I am constantly adding more to the tubs.  I usually stock up on the cheap crayon boxes at Walmart during back to school time (ALWAYS Crayola), but if I have to buy them later on in the year, I found that buying a large bulk box on Amazon was cheaper.

2. Glue Sticks

Glue sticks are another item that somehow disappear in no time.  You can never have too many glue sticks.

3. Folders

I always get folders before the school year starts.  I purchase red ones to use as Ketchup folders.  (Students keep these in their desk to place work in that they need to “catch up” on.)  I also love these Resource Folders from Really Good Stuff.

4. Mr. Sketch Markers

I get a new pack of Mr. Sketch Markers every single year.  They last the entire year and are perfect for anchor charts.

5. Chart Paper

I go through at least one tablet of chart paper each year for anchor charts, interactive writing, etc.

6. Astrobrights Paper

I seriously use Astrobrights paper for everything.  I love the colors, and I love the quality.

This Interactive Practice Folder is perfect for early finishers. Students can practice sight words, vocabulary, math facts, phonics skills, and more.

Find this Interactive Practice Folder in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.

7. Sticky Putty

All of the walls in my classroom are cinder block.  This definitely makes hanging things harder.  I have found that Sticky Putty seems to work the best for keeping things up.  There are still times when I come into my classroom after the weekend, and I have to pick things up off the floor, but it isn’t nearly as often if they are hung up with Sticky Putty.

8. Name Badges

I love having name badges for my students.  These are great for the beginning of the year when they are still learning their lunch numbers.  They are also great for subs and/or field trips.

9. Pencils

If you’re a teacher, you know how quickly students can go through pencils.  Ticonderoga pencils are definitely the easiest to sharpen and are my go-to pencil choice.

10. Hand Sanitizer

I always purchase the gigantic hand sanitizer container from Sam’s for my classroom.  There is a lot of sneezing, nose picking, and shoe tying in 1st grade.

What are your Back to School Must-Haves?

Are you new to 1st grade or do you just need some new and fresh ideas for Back to School?  Check out my go-to for the first week of school.

Everything you need for the first week of 1st grade. Lesson plans, activities, forms, letters, and more.

The Spring Challenge

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Do you or your students have Spring Fever yet?  I would say that we do, but it has not felt like Spring here yet, so I may have to call it never-ending Winter Fever.  If you need something to spice up your Spring, The Spring Challenge may be just what you’re looking for.  Do you need a fun, engaging, and academic activity for your class to complete anytime this spring? The Spring Challenge is your answer. Your class will compete in small groups to complete 10 academic challenges. After each challenge, the class will open a Challenge Ticket envelope and solve the code word. The first team to solve all 10 code words is the winning team.

This Spring Challenge includes 10 academic challenges that your students complete together to earn Challenge Tickets.  After they earn a challenge ticket, they use the code to solve the mystery word.  The first team to complete all 10 mystery word challenge tickets is the winning team.

Do you need a fun, engaging, and academic activity for your class to complete anytime this spring? The Spring Challenge is your answer. Your class will compete in small groups to complete 10 academic challenges. After each challenge, the class will open a Challenge Ticket envelope and solve the code word. The first team to solve all 10 code words is the winning team.

Each challenge has a picture at the top, which matches the picture on a challenge ticket.  This makes it easy to organize and to know which challenge ticket the students have earned.  I put each of the challenge tickets into envelopes, so the students can tear the envelopes open and get their ticket.  I have heard from other teachers that they prefer to place the challenge tickets into a pocket chart.  Then, as each group completes a challenge, they can go and get their ticket from the pocket chart.  There are many ways to organize this to fit your classroom.

What are the academic challenges included in The Spring Challenge?
-Adding adjectives to sentences
-Fact Families
-Bossy R Words
-Double Digit Addition
-Sequence Writing
-100’s chart
-Beginning Blends
-Telling Time to the Hour and Half Hour
-Spring Word Search
-ABC Order

These challenges really are a fun way to change things up in your classroom any day this spring.  I like to have some little type of prize for my students when they finish the challenge, like a pencil or spring eraser.  Eventually every team earns the prize, but you can do whatever works best in your own classroom.

Learn more about The Spring Challenge by clicking on the picture below.

Do you need a fun, engaging, and academic activity for your class to complete anytime this spring? The Spring Challenge is your answer. Your class will compete in small groups to complete 10 academic challenges. After each challenge, the class will open a Challenge Ticket envelope and solve the code word. The first team to solve all 10 code words is the winning team.

Reading Warm Ups

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Time spent in small reading groups is so important, and we have to make the most of our time while I have them at my reading table.  I like to start with some type of quick warm up to get their brains working before we get into our lesson.  I was constantly scrambling to come up with ideas, or I was stuck on doing the same things, so I came up with Reading Warm Up Cards.

Reading Warm Up Cards are a great way to begin your small group or whole group reading lessons. This set includes warm up cards for Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Grammar, and Fluency (476 cards in all.) Simply print, laminate, and place on a metal ring.

These cards are full of quick reading warm ups that we can use in our small reading groups, as a whole group, or when we have a couple of extra minutes in our day.  They are also great to use before lining up for lunch or recess.  I printed, laminated, and placed each set on a metal ring.  This way, they are easy to grab and use.

Reading Warm Up Cards are a great way to begin your small group or whole group reading lessons. This set includes warm up cards for Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Grammar, and Fluency (476 cards in all.) Simply print, laminate, and place on a metal ring.

I created five sets of Reading Warm Up Cards to reach many aspects of teaching reading and language arts; Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Fluency, and Grammar.

Phonological Awareness is the ability of hear and manipulate sounds.  I like to remember that phonemic awareness can be done with your eyes closed.  It truly is the foundation for learning to read.  This set includes cards for Sentence Segmentation, Rhyming, Alliteration, Syllables, Onset & Rime, Phoneme Blending, Phoneme Segmentation, and Phoneme Manipulation. (48 Warm Up cards in all)

Reading Warm Up Cards are a great way to begin your small group or whole group reading lessons. This set includes warm up cards for Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Grammar, and Fluency (476 cards in all.) Simply print, laminate, and place on a metal ring.

The Phonics Warm Up cards include 120 cards in all working on Letter Sounds, Short Vowels, Beginning Blends, Ending Blends, Digraphs, Long Vowels, R-Controlled Vowels, and Dipthongs.

Reading Warm Up Cards are a great way to begin your small group or whole group reading lessons. This set includes warm up cards for Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Grammar, and Fluency (476 cards in all.) Simply print, laminate, and place on a metal ring.

The Vocabulary set includes 80 vocabulary warm ups.  These cards include a variety of vocabulary words as well as work with synonyms, antonyms, prefixes, and suffixes.

Reading Warm Up Cards are a great way to begin your small group or whole group reading lessons. This set includes warm up cards for Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Grammar, and Fluency (476 cards in all.) Simply print, laminate, and place on a metal ring.

The Fluency Warm Ups include 124 fluency cards working on Letter Fluency, Sight Word Fluency, Short Vowel Fluency, Long Vowel Fluency, Blend and Digraph Fluency, R-Controlled and Diphthong Fluency, Expression, and Short Story Fluency.

Reading Warm Up Cards are a great way to begin your small group or whole group reading lessons. This set includes warm up cards for Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Grammar, and Fluency (476 cards in all.) Simply print, laminate, and place on a metal ring.

Grammar Warm Ups include 104 cards working on Sentence Structure, Word Order, Sentence Fragments, Ending Marks, Nouns, Plural Nouns, Possessive Nouns, Proper Nouns, Irregular Plural Nouns, Verbs, Present-Tense Verbs, Past and Future Tense Verbs, Commas, Contractions, Adverbs, Combining Sentences, Adjectives, Pronouns, and Abbreviations.

Reading Warm Up Cards are a great way to begin your small group or whole group reading lessons. This set includes warm up cards for Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Grammar, and Fluency (476 cards in all.) Simply print, laminate, and place on a metal ring.

I have also bundled all 5 sets, 476 Warm Up cards in all, which includes the Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Fluency, and Grammar sets.  Click on the picture below to take a closer look and to download the preview files.

Reading Warm Up Cards are a great way to begin your small group or whole group reading lessons. This set includes warm up cards for Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Grammar, and Fluency (476 cards in all.) Simply print, laminate, and place on a metal ring.

If you have any questions or comments, let me know.  I love hearing from you and knowing how things are going in your classrooms.

Reading Warm Up Cards are a great way to begin your small group or whole group reading lessons. This set includes warm up cards for Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Grammar, and Fluency (476 cards in all.) Simply print, laminate, and place on a metal ring.

Interactive Fact Folders for Spring

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It’s officially Spring, even though it definitely does not feel like it here in Indiana.  Even if the weather is not cooperating, these Spring Interactive Folders will help.

Interactive Fact Folders are a hands-on way to integrate science and social studies with reading and writing. Students will work on comprehension, vocabulary, and writing while learning about science and social studies topics.

I love using these Interactive Fact Folders each month because they allow my students to integrate science and social studies with reading and writing.  They are always so proud of them when they are finished.  I began making these using file folders, but have since switched to using 12×18 pieces of construction paper with my students.  It’s much more cost effective, and they still turn out great.

What is included in an Interactive Fact Folder?

Each set of fact folders includes a cover page, graphic organizers, vocabulary words, four fact sheets, and a writing page.  I personally LOVE the fact sheets because the students can highlight vocabulary words and practice reading fluency and comprehension.  Then, the fact sheets get stored in the pocket inside of the fact folder.  Let me walk you through the Earth Day Interactive Fact Folder and give you an example of how I break these down.

Day 1 – Pass out the folders and the cover page.  The students color, cut and glue the cover onto the folder.Interactive Fact Folders are a hands-on way to integrate science and social studies with reading and writing. Students will work on comprehension, vocabulary, and writing while learning about science and social studies topics.

Day 2 – Pass out the Earth Day Graphic Organizer and have the students write what they know and what they want to know.  Then, have them complete the Vocabulary pocket and Color the Earth section.

Interactive Fact Folders are a hands-on way to integrate science and social studies with reading and writing. Students will work on comprehension, vocabulary, and writing while learning about science and social studies topics.

Day 3 – Have students make their Earth Day Fact Sheet pockets and glue on the comprehension organizer.  Then, I pass out the first fact sheet.  We read through it and discuss the passage.  Next, the students lift up the flap on the organizer and write something from that passage.  We usually do two passages on the 3rd day.

Interactive Fact Folders are a hands-on way to integrate science and social studies with reading and writing. Students will work on comprehension, vocabulary, and writing while learning about science and social studies topics.

Day 4 – We read through the last two fact sheet passages and write our information under each flap.  Then, I pass out the vocabulary words.  We discuss each of the words.  Then, we go back and find them in our reading passages.

Interactive Fact Folders are a hands-on way to integrate science and social studies with reading and writing. Students will work on comprehension, vocabulary, and writing while learning about science and social studies topics.

Day 5 – On the last day, we write about our learning.  I pass out the writing page.  We discuss where we can find words to spell and information to write about in our fact folders.  I really emphasize to use our resources.  After the students complete their writing, they glue it onto the back of their fact folders.

Interactive Fact Folders are a hands-on way to integrate science and social studies with reading and writing. Students will work on comprehension, vocabulary, and writing while learning about science and social studies topics.

Doing these all in one day would definitely be A LOT, especially for 1st graders.  Older students may be able to handle it, but for my little ones, I like to break it down into manageable sections.

I am really excited about my April set of Interactive Fact Folders, which includes Plants, Insects, and Earth Day.

 

Interactive Fact Folders are a hands-on way to integrate science and social studies with reading and writing. Students will work on comprehension, vocabulary, and writing while learning about science and social studies topics.

Each of these folders can be purchased separately, or as a month bundle.  You may also be interested in my March set, which included Rainbows, Weather, and the Solar System.

Interactive Fact Folders are a hands-on way to integrate science and social studies with reading and writing. Students will work on comprehension, vocabulary, and writing while learning about science and social studies topics.

If you love these and want to use them throughout the year, make sure you check out my Entire Year Bundle.

 

100th Day Challenge

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A couple of weeks ago, we had our 100th Day of School.  It is always such a fun day, and one that the students look forward to.  Along with the traditional things that I have done for the past couple of years for the 100th Day of School, I added in the 100th Day of School Challenge.  This was set up just like the Christmas Challenge.

The 100th Day of School Challenge is a fun and engaging way for your students to practice their academic skills while collaborating and earning challenge tickets.

I love these challenges because my students have to work cooperatively together to solve 10 academic challenges.  After they solve a challenge, they earn a challenge ticket envelope.  Inside of the envelope is a mystery word that they have to solve using the code.  It is amazing how excited they get when they earn each of their tickets.

The 100th Day of School Challenge is a fun and engaging way for your students to practice their academic skills while collaborating and earning challenge tickets.

It’s an easy to prep activity that the students love, and they don’t even realize they are learning.

“My students loved the challenges. They even begged to skip indoor recess to keep working on them! So engaging!” -Alyssa

The 100th Day of School Challenge is a fun and engaging way for your students to practice their academic skills while collaborating and earning challenge tickets.

“AHHHH!!! My students are going to LOVE this! They love teamwork & challenges! I can’t wait to use this on our 100th Day! -Jennifer

What is included in the challenge?

★Directions for the Challenge
★10 academic challenges (math and language arts based)
★10 Challenge Tickets
★10 Corresponding Envelope Labels
★100th Day Challenge Code
★Answer Key

Check out the 100th Day Challenge by clicking the picture below.

The 100th Day of School Challenge is a fun and engaging way for your students to practice their academic skills while collaborating and earning challenge tickets.

Need more 100th Day of School ideas?  Check out this 100th Day of School blog post from last year.

Comprehension Notebooks

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Comprehension can be such a difficult task to teach, but these Comprehension Notebooks have been a life-saver over the past couple of years.  They allow me to give a quick daily dose of comprehension, and we can really dig deep into each story.  I personally use these in small groups, but they can also be used in a whole group setting.  I prefer to use them in small groups because I can use a variety of grade levels in order to differentiate for my students.

Comprehension Notebooks provide your students with rigorous and focused daily comprehension practice. Each week includes an original text for students to read or have read to them. Each day, the students will practice a comprehension skill related to the text for the week.

Daily Comprehension Practice

These Comprehension Notebooks are set up on a 5-day schedule using the same story each day.  In all honesty, I usually do these over a 2-3 day time frame.  My schedule does not allow me to meet with each small reading group every day, so I usually do Day 1 and Day 2 together.  Then, the next time, we reread and do Days 3-5.  You can use these however you feel works best in your own classroom.

Differentiating with Comprehension Notebooks

I have 4 different grade levels of Comprehension Notebooks available (Kindergarten-3rd grade).  I personally like to use each of the grade levels in my classroom depending on each student’s reading level.  While the majority of my students do well with the Kindergarten, 1st or 2nd grade notebooks, I definitely have students that are capable of using the 3rd grade notebooks as well.

Comprehension Notebooks provide your students with rigorous and focused daily comprehension practice. Each week includes an original text for students to read or have read to them. Each day, the students will practice a comprehension skill related to the text for the week.

Comprehension Notebooks provide your students with rigorous and focused daily comprehension practice. Each week includes an original text for students to read or have read to them. Each day, the students will practice a comprehension skill related to the text for the week.

Comprehension Notebooks provide your students with rigorous and focused daily comprehension practice. Each week includes an original text for students to read or have read to them. Each day, the students will practice a comprehension skill related to the text for the week.

Comprehension Notebooks provide your students with rigorous and focused daily comprehension practice. Each week includes an original text for students to read or have read to them. Each day, the students will practice a comprehension skill related to the text for the week.

What does each Comprehension Notebook include?

Each notebook includes 30 weeks worth of comprehension practice using both fiction and nonfiction text.  The comprehension skills are appropriate for each grade level and include a variety of skills.  (cause and effect, main idea and details, compare and contrast, visualizing, theme, inferences, etc.)  Every week includes a Write About It section that allows students to respond to the text and make text-to-self connections.  In order to help you with differentiation, I also have two different bundles available for you.  My K-2nd grade bundle is a great way to differentiate for a 1st grade classroom.  I also have a K-3rd grade bundle that includes ALL of my Comprehension Notebooks.

What are teacher’s saying about Comprehension Notebooks?

“True brilliance…that is all I can say about this resource. I am going into my first year of teaching and have viewed thousands of resources and this is by far my favorite. The excitement I have for this is a little silly, I must say! (I even called my mom). I always struggled with comprehension as a child so seeing a clever way to implement reading comprehension activities aside from curriculum is brilliant!” -In the Shade

“This book is probably one of the best purchases I have made on TPT. I have used it daily. It is used as a must do for my students during centers. It took about six weeks of working with the students , but now they are working in a group of about 5 students and getting a lot out of the daily practice pieces. It goes along well with Journeys. I just have to tell the students what page to work on to match up with the comprehension skill of the week. Often they will ask if they can finish the page which is exciting to hearing. I sent it away to be bound into a book as shown and the students know to pull out their books when we have centers. If you are wondering if it is worth it… It is!” -Primary at Heart

“Absolutely a GAME CHANGER in teaching comprehension! Thank you for making a product full of practicality for my kiddos! Your hard work is beyond appreciated! Thank you for making my job easier!” -Krystina

Check out all of my Comprehension Notebooks.

Kindergarten Comprehension Notebook

1st Grade Comprehension Notebook

2nd Grade Comprehension Notebook

3rd Grade Comprehension Notebook

Kindergarten-3rd Grade Bundle