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Back to School – Getting Things Done

July 22, 2016 by Jodi 8 Comments

The countdown is on. We only have two more weeks until school starts. I went into my classroom on Tuesday for the first time this summer, and I swear I was just there. I’m not real sure where this summer has gone! I have to admit that I was a little slow to get motivated, but I have gotten a couple things accomplished. I wanted to share some of my latest projects with you.

I finished the bulletin board outside of my classroom. I used my Cricut to cut the letters from Astrobrights cardstock.

I added some tissue paper balls from Hobby Lobby for dimension.

I also made this name banner for my desk.

Staples donated some desks to our school last year. My old desk had my name in vinyl across the front, but this one didn’t. Many of my students were constantly trying to remember how to spell my name. I knew that I needed to find a fun way to add it to this new desk.

I absolutely love how it turned out. I just printed directly onto Astrobrights cardstock, and then cut a triangle out of the bottom of each page. Then, I punched holes in the top and threaded my ribbon.

I feel like I’ve made a huge dent in my classroom to get ready for school. I printed off all of my first week of school items from my First Week of First Grade Packet.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-First-Week-of-First-Grade-Back-to-School-2619044

It is so nice to have everything I need ready to go for the first week of school.

When do you go back?

Everything You Need for the First Week of First Grade

July 1, 2016 by Jodi Leave a Comment

Even though the first week of school can be such an exciting time, it can also be downright stressful! The first week of first grade is full of excitement, energy, and pure exhaustion. Even though I have taught 1st grade for MANY years, I still get overwhelmed before school starts with planning exactly what I want to accomplish during that first week. I wanted to help take away some of that stress by putting everything together for the first week of school.

Are you a new 1st grade teacher or do you just need some fresh and new ideas for the first week of 1st grade? This First Week of First Grade includes everything you need to have a successful first week of first grade.

This has been a LIFESAVER because everything is in one place. It takes the guesswork out of back to school planning. I make no promises that this will take away all of your back to school stress, but it will definitely help 😉

I have included detailed lesson plans. Plus, they are EDITABLE to fit your needs.

You will find student information sheets that are perfect for sending home during a Meet the Teacher Night or on the first day of school.

Every printable that you will need for the first week of school is included in this packet.

This packet also includes editable welcome letters, attention grabbers, activities, games, to-do lists, dismissal tags, and more!

Whether you are a seasoned 1st grade teacher or you are new to this grade level, this will be a fantastic resource for your first week of school. Head over to my Teachers Pay Teachers Store to learn more about The First Week of First Grade.

What are teachers saying about this product?
“There.are.no.words. Really…this is a wonderful resource tailor made for first grade teachers. This is so going to help me train my firsties in procedures. Thank you so much for sharing your ideas and work! :)” -Susan

“Wow, thank you! I wish I would have had this last year for my first year of teaching. This is invaluable. I appreciate all the hard work you put into it and also how engaging the lessons are. I can’t wait for the first week with my first graders!” -Hannah

“This is perfect. I have been teaching first grade for 7 years and this summer I have been thinking I needed to change it up! This is right on. Thank you very much!” -Valerie

Getting Your Students to Think

April 9, 2016 by Jodi 1 Comment

Are you guilty of asking your students too many close-ended questions? These are the types of questions with one correct answer. I have to admit that sometimes I find myself getting stuck asking too many of these types of questions. While they do have a place in learning, we definitely need to make sure that we are asking many more open-ended questions to our students.

So, what’s the difference between a close-ended question and an open-ended one?

Close-ended questions have one simple answer. This could be a “yes” or “no” answer, or a one word or one sentence answer.

Examples of close-ended questions:

What is your favorite food?

Who was the first president?

What is the problem in the story?

Open-ended questions have a more in-depth answer. They require the student to think and reflect on their answer.

Examples of open-ended questions:

What are some ways that you think the main character will solve the problem?

Why do you think George Washington made a good president?

What are some simple ways to make sure you are encouraging higher level thinking in your classroom?

Every morning during Morning Meeting, we have a discussion question. These questions do not have “yes” or “no” answers. They get my students thinking first thing in the morning.

This is one of my favorite activities each day. It is amazing the discussions that these have led to. I also love that I learn SO much about my students during this time.

I have two sets of 100 questions, if you would like to check them out.

Set 1

Set 2

I also just created this Read & Respond packet to incorporate that higher level of thinking into my students writing.

This packet includes short stories followed by an open-ended question for students to write. You can check these out by clicking on the picture below.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Read-Write-to-Respond-2486004

Take time this next week to really reflect on the types of questions you are asking your students.

Write the Rainbow {An Organizational Tool for Writing}

March 19, 2016 by Jodi 6 Comments

In all honesty, some days I love teaching writing, and others days I’m definitely not quite feeling the love. I love it because you can see SO much progress throughout the year. I feel like student’s writing abilities tell me so much about their overall reading skills. However, writing is just plain time consuming! With everything that has to fit into a day, sometimes writing gets cut pretty short. For this reason, I had to find a way to make the most out of my writing instruction.

I felt like a broken record with teaching, and reteaching, and reteaching how to structure a story. I wanted my students to write a topic sentence, three detail sentences, and a closing. Now, of course, I broke this format down into numerous mini-lessons, but still so many of my students were not getting it. I had to find a better way.

I came up with “Write the Rainbow.”

I began by teaching the students this rainbow format for organizing their writing. I laminated the colored paper to work on whole class writing assignments.

I modeled how to write a story using this format by writing with dry erase markers onto each colored paper.

We discussed how each color was a different part of our story (topic, details, and closing). We really focused on each color containing a complete sentence. I have a couple of students that want to connect every sentence in the story with the word “and.” This format really helped them to break that habit.

I created individual graphic organizers for each of my students by cutting out 2 1/4 inch strips of colored paper and laminating them.

The students used dry erase markers to write their own stories.

They loved this! Any opportunity that they have to use dry erase markers is a win in their minds. This was the perfect visual for my students to see that each color had its own sentence.

The organizers made transferring their writing over to their writing paper so easy.

We went back and used markers to check and make sure that they included each colored section.

These colored star stickers are also great for having students find each part of their story.

This was definitely a win for writing! We will be using this format a lot more frequently in my classroom. I created a practice packet that includes the printables, organizers, practice pages, and writing prompts. On days when it’s just too time consuming to do the full dry erase organizer, this sheet below is perfect!

You can click on the picture below to check out the entire packet.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Write-the-Rainbow-An-Organizational-Tool-for-Writing-2455177

Strategies for Teaching Vocabulary

February 18, 2016 by Jodi 1 Comment

Vocabulary is an important aspect in reading comprehension. If students do not know what the words mean, they cannot understand what they are reading.

Research has shown that vocabulary deficiencies are a primary cause of academic failure in grades 3 through 12.

(Baumann, Kameenui, Stanovich, & Becker)

Unfortunately, too many of our students have poor oral language skills. This can be due to many reasons, but research has typically found that students from low SES tend to be lacking in oral language development and vocabulary. Once they enter school, we have the sometimes difficult job of trying to bridge that gap.

So, what can we do?

Teachers need to be very intentional about teaching vocabulary.

We have to take the time to teach vocabulary to our students. We cannot just rely on discussing words that we may come across in our read alouds. While it is very important to discuss unknown words while reading, we also need to explicitly teach vocabulary words to our students.

For example, I explicitly teach vocabulary words to my students in small groups during guided reading time. Using my monthly Guided Reading packets, I introduce the students to 3-5 new vocabulary words for each story. We read the word, write the word, discuss the definition, and then USE the word. Just reading the definition is not enough. The students MUST use the word to learn it.

After introducing the words and practicing them numerous times, we read the passage that contains the words.

The number of words I introduce for each lesson depends on the level of my students. I do not want to overwhelm my lower readers with 5 or 6 six vocabulary words. They are much more likely to learn 2-3 new words.

Students need “kid friendly” definitions of new vocabulary words.

Do you remember having to look up words in a dictionary and write the definition? I know I remember doing that (not in 1st grade, of course). While I know that learning dictionary skills is very important, this is definitely not an effective way of teaching new vocabulary to young students. For example, if I look up the definition of the word dilemma it says, “a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two or more alternatives.” For a first grader, this definition would only lead to looking up the words situation and alternatives. Students need teachers to provide them with definitions that they are going to understand.

Students need multiple exposures to learn new words.

It can take a student anywhere from 4-40 exposures to learn a new word depending on their previous vocabulary knowledge. While I’m sure that 40 exposures would not be the “normal,” I know that I have had students that would need this. We cannot mention a word once and expect students to understand and use the word.

One of my favorite vocabulary activities is to use Fancy Nancy books to teach vocabulary. I throw on a tiara, some fancy Dollar Tree glasses, and Christmas garland, and I instantly become Fancy Nancy. I explicitly introduce the words prior to reading. Then, we hang them on our Fancy Nancy Words board to use in our writing.

Provide students with rich vocabulary every day.
Students will never learn new vocabulary if they don’t hear it and use it on a regular basis. As teachers, we need to try and use rich vocabulary as often as possible to give students more exposure. I like to throw in vocabulary words into our morning message.

Use vocabulary in all subject areas.

We often think of vocabulary instruction during reading or science, but you can throw in vocabulary instruction into all subject areas. We work on new math vocabulary every day when we do our D aily Math Notebooks.

Know which words to teach your students.
I’m sure you have heard about Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 vocabulary words. Tier 1 words are your basic words (cat, ball, cup, etc.). Tier 2 words are your high frequency/multiple meaning words that often occur in literature and adult conversations (absurd, coincidence, embellish, etc.) Tier 3 words are your content or subject based words that are not used very frequently. These are vocabulary words that students may find in science books. Direct vocabulary instruction is best for Tier 2 words. These are going to allow students to expand their reading and oral vocabularies.

I love these Word Teasers that I purchased at Books a Million. They make different levels of boxes, but I have the Small Fry and the Junior versions. They are great for those extra minutes in a day to introduce a new vocabulary word.

Another idea is to place Tier 2 words into a Word Jar and randomly pick a new word for each day.

These are great ways to make sure you are teaching students vocabulary words that they will be able to use in their every day lives.
What are your favorite ways of teaching vocabulary in your classroom?

If you would like to check out my March Guided Reading packet, click on the picture below. My monthly packets contain 3 levels of passages to make differentiating a breeze.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Guided-Reading-March-2396317

Valentine’s Day Actvities and FREE Printables

February 11, 2016 by Jodi 2 Comments

Oh the joys of Valentine’s Day in the classroom! It’s such a fun holiday, but sugar + kids = chaos.

First thing this morning we had our Cub Coaching. Each adult in our building (classroom teachers, teaching assistants, secretaries, special area teachers, etc.) is assigned a small group of “cubs.” (Our school mascot is a lion.) Our cub group is a combination of students from every grade level that we meet with 5 times a year for 30 minutes just to get to know each other, check in, and do some type of activity. The theory behind this is that since we are such a large school (over 600 students) having these cub groups allow the students to have another familiar adult in the building. These groups stay the same every year (5th graders are replaced with new Kindergarteners), so we follow these students through their years at our elementary school.

The biggest challenge is trying to think of activities for some a large range of students. I decided to have my cubs see how tall they could make a tower out of Conversation Hearts.

In all honesty, I figured that the students would just start stacking them up on top of each other and make one big column. However, they were SO creative!