It's Back to School Time

The school year is almost ready to start. It is funny how teachers say, “I’m going back to school.” Instead of “I’m going back to work.” It makes sense though, right? Well, I don’t actually go back until mid-August, but I've of course been thinking about it. I know how important it is to start the year off right, making sure students are clear about rules and expectations. I would say getting a good grip on this from the start is key to having a successful school year. Sure, we have to go back and revisit rules and expectations, especially after a long weekend or holiday break, but laying that foundation in the beginning is so important. 

I use several resources to teach students about rules, but I have a new one that I actually just posted in my Teacher’s Store. It is a resource called, It's Nice to Be Back at School - School Rule Book. This is a "bee" themed book that helps students to think about school rules and what their behavior should look like. It also includes posters that reinforce student learning.

Students use the 11-page booklet to learn a school rule and then draw a picture to show what that looks like. Focusing on a couple of rules a day, and then revisiting them again the next day before focusing on other rules is super helpful. I also like students to keep these booklets in a folder for a while rather than take them home right away. This way I can have students take their booklets out and we can review rules again as needed. 

There are nine posters that I use with the book. I post them in a location that is easily visible to students. This serves as a good reminder of what they have been learning. Students like playing teacher, so having one student use a pointer stick and point to the rules as students chant them is a fun way to review the rules. 

If you are interested in this resource you can purchase it from my Teachers Pay Teachers Store. You can also check out other resources that I have available for teaching classroom rules.

Clickable Links:

It's Nice to Be Back at School

Back to School - Follow the Rules Bundle

What to Do When Someone Bugs You

Classroom rules are definitely important for overall behavior in the classroom, but students also need to learn how to follow rules during an activity. I like to start the year off with a "Getting to Know You" activity. It is a resource that I use to help students begin to feel comfortable with each other, while at the same time teaching and reinforcing behavior that is expected during fun and engaging activities. I definitely want to avoid the "class gone wild" look. 

The activity I choose is played in a way that is similar to "Stop the Music," but it is done with my set of Back to School Getting to Know You Cards. Students move around the classroom to music and when the music stops they stop and ask a partner the questions on the card. I like this activity because I do a lot of partner shares and if students don't begin to feel comfortable with each other right away and learn some ground rules then it makes it more difficult later.   

As the music plays, I make sure to slow students down if they are running: I redirect them to someone new if they keep going to the same person; I remind them that they need to be on task; I also remind them of any other class rules that are needed. If students are not following the rules then I tap them out. They learn to understand that being "tapped out" means that they are removed from the activity for one round to think about expected behavior. 

There are only two pages in the packet with four cards to a page. You can use both cards or just one card can be used. Basically, students are being asked the same questions as they move from partner to partner. This format works well for struggling readers because they already know what the card says. It also works well for shy students because they already know what they are going to be asked.

This packet is a super good deal for only $1.00. The cards are in color as seen in the picture, but you could print them in grayscale if you wanted. 

The cards are available at my TPT Store.

Back to School Getting to Know You Cards

There are lots of resources and ideas for teaching students rules and also getting to know you activities, but I thought I would share my bit. The message is not really what resources you use, but rather that you be prepared and set yourself up for an amazing school year. Good luck to you all. 

Classroom Word Wall

I like having a classroom word wall that matches the theme of our school reading program. Since this year our theme is outer space, I needed to create a new word wall. I think it is very helpful to have a word wall in the classroom. It is a resource that my students have always used. I actually put my word wall up at the beginning of the year with all of the words at once so that the words are available for my first graders right away. Because I don't put the words up one at a time, it is especially important that students become familiar with which words are there right away. At the beginning of the year I like to use the word wall as a center in which student use the words to play word games. I also like to make reading the words on the word wall part of our morning routine.

Last year, I used the Sports Theme Word Wall. I liked using the same format for my Space Word Wall, because it made replacing the letters and words very easy. If you don't get to use a color printer at work then printing the cards might be a concern. Money saving tip: order your ink online! I buy my ink off of ebay and pay somewhere around $15 for a set of 14 (prices vary). Once I use the cartridges I recycle them at Staples for $2 each in rewards money. You do the math. Yep, I actually make money, which can only be spent at Staples, but that doesn't seem to be a problem for me. One catch to the Staples reward is that you had to have spent $30 on ink in the last 180 days in order to get the $2 on your recyled ink cartridge.

My word walls are available at my TPT Store if you are interested in checking them out.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Sports-Theme-Word-Wall-Words-279134

 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Space-Theme-Word-Wall-Words-708902

Character Traits in Literature

I have found that teaching my first graders character traits in relation to literature can be a bit challenging. The response I usually get from them when I ask them to describe a character is something along the lines of “good, nice, happy, and sad.” I guess they don’t really have enough life experience to come up with much more, but since these kinds of questions are part of our reading assessment I need to provide them with some ideas for an appropriate response.

I found a resource that I thought was very helpful, so I thought I would pass it on. It is these posters by Genia Connell, which I love. I also love her simple way of defining character traits. Genia has a whole lesson laid out for teaching character traits, but it is intended for 3^rd–5^th graders and probably more than my first graders are ready for.  

Here is the link to download the posters for free. You can also check out Gina's article "Teaching Character Traits in Reader's Workshop."

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2012/11/teaching-character-traits-readers-workshop

While I love the posters I needed more examples of character traits for my students, so I created a Power Point. It is student friendly and intended to help primary aged students develop a better understanding of what a character trait is. If you are interested in checking it out you can visit my TPT Store or my Teacher's Notebook Shop.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/What-are-Character-Traits-in-Literature-Power-Point-731404

or

http://www.teachersnotebook.com/product/anavarre/what-are-character-traits-in-literature-power-point

1st Grade Common Core Outer Space Math Packet

The reading theme for our school next year is “Outer Space.”  I like this theme. I think it is really fun and I know that students enjoy it. I’ve already got my space theme word wall up and once I get the names of my students I’ll have my space desk tags ready to go. The student bulletin board will have to wait until after the first day of school when I get students’ pictures taken.

Anyways, in sticking with the outer space theme and focusing on common core standards, I put together a 1^st grade math packet. It is a 32 page set of printables that can be used in the classroom or at home. Adding the outer space theme to a worksheet just makes it a little more fun. If you are interested in checking out this packet you can view it at my TPT Store.  A complete table of contents is provided in the product description, but here is a preview.

Common Core Outer Space Math

Also, if you are looking for a good outer space art activity, you might be interested in the Freebie. 

Freebie Outer Space Art Project

Addition Triangles

Today was the last day of school and you would think that I would be sitting back reading a book, but no. Instead I'm busy creating and posting new ideas. I guess it's just in the blood, although I did treat myself to a rare nap.

I decided to blog this evening, because I wanted to share my Addition Triangles activity. Moving forward with Common Core has given me an opportunity to evaluate the math activities that I'm already using and create others that are more specific to my Common Core needs. Addition Triangles is one of those activities. The timeline that our district is using this next year has my first graders working to master addition to 20 in the first trimester. That's a pretty big goal, so I need as many practice opportunities as I can get my students involved in to make that happen. Addition Triangles provides students with that practice by allowing them to work with math facts and become familiar with them. Students can do this in a pretty independent way and it has some built it in ways to differentiate. Students can either focus on one set of math facts, which would be the easiest version or they can mix the cards up and choose from all of the math fact cards, whichi is more difficult. Students can also use manipulative to show/prove their work and help build their understanding of math facts.

Addition Triangles are available at either my TPT Store or my Teacher's Notebook Shop. Please feel free to check it out.

                   http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Addition-Triangles-721181
                                                                            or
                   http://www.teachersnotebook.com/product/anavarre/addition-triangles

Candy Store Money Activity

Sometimes I create things and I'm not sure how they are going to work out. I mean the idea seems good, but the reality is what happens when I get these creations into the hands of my students. Well, the Candy Store Money activity that I created was a pleasant surprise for me. 

My students have some experience with money, but I wanted a center activity that would allow them to review and use what they know. This Candy Store resource did just that. 

Students who were very comfortable with money used both the circles and what they knew about money to come up with the correct values. Because the dime and penny circles are the same size students had to think about their values carefully. 

Students that were not as strong with money also used the circles to help determine which coins to use. Then they attempted to count the value. Because they tried to use pennies at first, they could see that these values would not work. This activity pushed them to think about what they knew and with support, they were able to come up with the correct coins.

Another thing I liked about this activity is how easy it was to prep and use. I printed out the pages, slipped them into sheet protectors, and gave each student a bowl of coins. Students took turns passing the pages around and making sure to work on different sheets.

If you are interested in getting a closer look at this packet, you can visit my TPT Store for more information. 

Candy Store Money Activity