Can I just tell you how much I LOVE Fall Break?! Unfortunately, the weather has been rainy and cold and I have only left the house once so far…but I have been able to accomplish a lot at home. First up, I finished up my Long Vowel Word Work packets. With my Short Vowel…
This week we are learning about short i. I loved using my Short a Word Work packet last week, so I am just as excited to use my Short i packet this week. The best thing about it is my students are now familiar with the format and they are able to do many of…
It’s our 3rd week of school and we are finally into the “meat” of our reading curriculum. The first two weeks are full of review, review, review. This week our phonics focus is short a. I wanted to give my students plenty of opportunities, outside of our reading series, to practice with the short a…
It is officially my favorite month! I love everything about this month. The weather, pumpkins, changing leaves, and Halloween decorations are all refreshing. However, one of the best parts is the fact that my first grades always seem to get into the groove of things by October. Honestly, I always tell myself that my first…
This week I found myself with 5 extra minutes before a fire drill. Not one to sit around and waste time ,{which is a disaster waiting to happen in a 1st grade classroom anyways} I drew a staircase on the board. I wrote a CVC word at the bottom and began calling on students to…
Haven’t you always wanted to be a Fly on the Wall in certain classrooms? As I have read teaching blogs over the years, I have wanted to be a fly on the wall in so many classrooms. Could you imagine everything you would learn if you could take a year and go to a different…
Do you use Focus Walls in your school? We were introduced to them a couple years ago. At that point, I put one up, but didn’t do much with it. (Needless to say…that was pointless.) However, two years ago, I placed it next to my calendar and bingo it became useful!! The words are kind…
Quite a few years ago when we became a Reading First school, our Reading Coach talked a lot about flexible grouping during small group reading lessons. It took me a while to really figure out how to make this work in my classroom. I kept wanting to make myself a group during small group time, but this…
I finished up my “Meet the Bossy R Triplets” Unit and now have it posted on TpT. Every year when I teach the “er” sound, I think that it is so confusing for my students. I created this unit to help them get tons of visual practice with this phonics skill. You can pick it…
I work in a high poverty school and the majority of our students come to us with little prior knowledge. We struggle every year trying to enhance their vocabulary. In first grade, we really try to put a huge emphasis on phonics, fluency, comprehension and vocabulary development. I have created a weeklong packet to use…
