ANOTHER School Year in the Books.

Friday, May 30 was our last day of first grade--and what a year it was. I had some of the sweetest and smartest students I have ever had!

......I also had some of the MOST DIFFICULT and emotional students I have ever had. Ever. But, let's not dwell on that. Here are some highlights from my school year:

My Classroom

LOVE my classroom! I added some different things this year and even more throughout the year. Click here for a full tour.

Writing Center

My writing center got a HUGE makeover this school year. I added more paper, more supplies, and different resources to help the kids remember/use the writing process. Success. Take a closer look at it here.


Math Stations

 

I also completely changed the way we do math stations. What worked for my class last year did not work for my class this year so change was necessary. I LOVED it! Read about it here.

Thematic Units

This year I was finally able to take a multidisciplinary integrated approach to teaching. Penguins and plants were our big units this year! I wrote all about my plants unit here. Next year, I hope to have everything mapped out before the school year starts so that I am able to teach using a multidisciplinary integrated approach all year.

Poetry

Poetry is hands-down my FAVORITE change I made this year. Last year, my class used poetry here and there and during our poetry unit. This year, poetry was a DAILY thing. And I LOVED it. And the kids LOOOVED it!

I even used this pocket chart and DIY stand to implement a poetry center for use during Daily 5.

I will be posting about our weekly poetry routine soon! :)

Phonics Groups

I also changed the way I taught phonics. Instead of a whole group lesson, I divided my class into 1 high and 1 low group and instructed them in those smaller groups. This allowed me to better work with my students both high and low. I really LOVED doing it this way.  Check out this post about my Daily 5 time to learn more about my small group instruction.

Well, time to get this day started. Upcoming posts:

-Poetry in action

-Technology integration

-The return of "Sweet and Simple Saturdays"

Writing Center Update

Here is a quickie post about the writing center in my classroom! Last year I posted about writing and my writing center here. This year, I have changed quite a few things this year! Check it out:

We work on writing (mostly) every day in my classroom. (I say mostly because, quite frankly, unplanned things happen on occasion!) My students have a writing folder that contains all of the things they are working on and some helper pages that I got from my Writer's Notebook Package. Some of the students' notebooks are kept in these cute magazine boxes from Target:

Other students keep them in their desks.

I actually recently added some new things to our writing center. Here is a whole center view!

On the wall, you will see work from some amazing authors!

My students use the writing center during Writing Workshop and Daily 5.

All of our writing paper and graphic organizers are kept on this best-$3-I-have-ever-spent shelves I got from a garage sale like 6 or 7 years ago.

The students also have access to some prompt pages that are changed often and some helper charts for spelling that are changed monthly.

LOVE LOVE this new caddy I got from Office Max! In it, we have colored pencils for revising and editing, slinkies for stretching out our words, vis-a-vis pens to use to fill in writing checklists, and erasers. There is also a stapler next to the caddy for students to use.

Paper clips, writing checklists, letter paper and envelopes, and list paper. Underneath (which I COMPLETELY neglected to take a picture of!!) are a few more prompt pages and vocabulary cards on rings.

Thanks for coming by! Enjoy your Sunday!

Pocket Chart Stand!!!!

CHECK. THIS. OUT.

I have been wanting to start a poetry center in my classroom and was trying to find a place for a pocket chart to go. I didn't have a stand or any available bulletin board or wall space. THEN, I went to Target. I bought this garment rack for $20...

...and ta-da!! Pocket chart stand!!!

ADJUSTABLE pocket chart stand!!!!!

The stand has the perfect height options for kids to use it on the floor OR for me to use during whole group instruction.

 I bought pocket chart rings from a teacher supply store for about $3-5 and borrowed the pocket chart from a friend (since all the ones I had on hand are too big for it). The chart even has pockets at the bottom to hold sentence strips!

 This is its home until we are ready to use it. It is super lightweight and is easy to move around the room--the kids could even move it. It actually came with wheels but I chose not to put them on.

Here is what the box looks like:

I am SO excited about it!!

READ.

Summer is so so close to being over!! My mind is now realizing this because it has been RACING and making me do all sorts of stuff! And since I have so much to do, my mind has also been focused on fun things that are not so important, like decorating my classroom more and more and MORE! I'm sure you can relate. :P

Today, I went to Michaels to pick up some fabric to recover my crate seats (which, by the way, helped me learn that Michaels DOESN'T sell fabric). While I was there, I RANDOMLY had an idea to make a READ sign for my library. I picked out all of the materials and started on it a few hours ago. But I will get to that in a minute.

First, my crate seats!!

LOVE my new fabric that did NOT come from Michaels (not bitter at all). Hope you saw my Instagram video about them! :)

Next up, my sweet little 3-year-old and I made some canvas paintings for her playroom (she actually did the painting!):

This was a fun, easy project that only involved a canvas, acrylic paint, and letter stickers!

Finally, here is the random READ sign I made for my classroom instead of working on curriculum!:

Just used 12 x 12 canvas, Mod Podge, paintbrushes, ribbon, and scrapbook paper. I cut the paper into 3 x 3 squares...

...and Mod Podged it to the canvas. I then added ribbon to cover lines by stapling it to the back and Mod Podging it to the canvas.

Made some letters on my trusty, one and only came-with-it cartridge on my Cricut, and Mod Podged them to the canvas.

Ta-da!!! I love how it turned out and can't wait to put it up!!

Hope you enjoyed my projects!! Have a terrific Thursday!! :)

Tracking print--the FUN way!

One important part of teaching is to make sure that the students are engaged in learning, whether it be a whole group, small group, or independent activity. One way I encourage my students to remain engaged while reading (or counting) is using FUN print trackers!!

We have martian fingers from Really Good Stuff...

...googly eye sticks (made from googly eyes and a popsicle stick)...

...star pointers from either Walmart or The Dollar Tree...

and LASER lights!!

As you can see, we use a variety of tools to track print. The kids LOVE all of these, especially the laser! I introduce each tool to the students at one time and on separate days. Then during Daily 5 and reading groups, the students choose one to use to help them track print. Some choose one every time and some never choose one. I don't force it though I do HIGHLY ENCOURAGE some of them to use one if need be (if you get my drift!). ;)

What do you use to help your little readers track print?

Math Bins MAKEOVER!

So one of my first grade BFFFFs texted me a picture of some BEAUTIFUL storage drawers from Walmart the other day...

My classroom theme is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, so I knew I MUST have some of them!! The orange is perfect! I decided to get rid of my blue math bins...

I love the color of the blue bins but they do not really match the rest of my classroom. And while I was changing things up, I also decided that I needed better labels for all of the bins. (Originally, the kids would go to a numbered bin during math stations and complete that activity. I decided midway through the year last year to keep daily activities elsewhere and use the drawers for math station games/supplies storage since the amount of games and supplies is ever-increasing.) Anywho, I did it! I bought 2 orange bins and switched them with the blue! I also made my cute little labels and this is what it now looks like:

Did you notice the drawer with no label????? I don't have a clue what happened to it!! For whatever reason, it did not make it to my classroom with the others! I guess I'll do that one tomorrow...

These drawers store partner games for Word Work (Daily 5) and daubers (Do-a-Dots).

I LOOOOOVE my orange bins!!! Love, love, love!! :) I would love to switch out the white bins with pink ones so my room is even more CCBB, but I haven't ever seen any that color. Let me know if you do! :)

I also made labels over the weekend for my math manipulatives:

I printed them last night, cut them out, and was able to adhere them to my containers today! If you follow me on Instagram, you've already peeked at them!

If you are interested in the labels, click on either of the product pics to check them out in my TPT store. They are available for the very low price of $1.75!

So excited for all of this cuteness!! :) Can't wait to catch up on Monday Made It and see what YOU have made!