Back to School Giveaway!

It's nearly that time! We hope you have enjoyed your summer! To make this season a little easier this year, myself and a team of amazing teachers have grouped together to gift ONE lucky teacher with a TPT gift card and an Amazon gift card!

PRIZES INCLUDE 1 x $150 TPT Giftcard, 1 x $100 Amazon Giftcard

Enter here:

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REMEMBER: each entry counts as ONE entry, the more links you complete, the higher your chances of winning!!

Raffle CLOSES: Saturday 25th August 2018 12am

GOOD LUCK!!!

First Day of School Ideas

So I have been a little out of the action for awhile. Buying a house, moving, having a baby, and many more exciting things have happened since I last posted! I am no longer in the classroom, but am staying at home with my sweet baby girl. This is my first year ever not returning to school in some capacity - whether that be as a teacher or student. It is so strange not going back, so I thought I would share my First Day of School ideas with you all instead!

We all know that the first day of school can be daunting. Even the most laid-out plans don't get completed, nor do they need to. I find that instead of having a strict schedule for the first day, having activities and mini lessons planned works much better. So instead of giving you a schedule of what I did in my classroom on the first day of school (because of course I wrote it all out), I thought it would be better to share a few activities/ideas that I try to include every year and that you can do too!

1. Desk work

For the past few years I have taught first grade. When they arrived in the morning, I had the following page on their desk.

This is from Jen Jones at Hello Literacy. It is FREE and can be found here.

I chose a coloring sheet because it required no directions or explanation and the students could just get started while I was welcoming other students or talking with parents. Plus, the students loved to open their new box of crayons and start coloring.

2. Go over the "schedule."

As I mentioned earlier, there isn't necessarily a set schedule that you will follow for the first day, but let the students know what types of activities they will be doing. Many of them come in so nervous and just like to hear what they'll be doing to calm their nerves. Activities include reading books, lunch, recess, specials classes (if you have them that day), games, etc.

3. Read a few books.

One of the first things I do with my students is read to them. I want them to know how important I think reading is in the classroom, but also this is a familiar activity for them where they can just sit and enjoy. Here are a few of my first day favorites:

First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg

The Night Before First Grade by Natasha Wing

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

(I would have included a picture, but somehow I misplaced 3/4 of these books!)

After we read either First Day Jitters or The Night Before First Grade I will have the students discuss their feelings about the first day. Together we complete the following anchor chart from The Applicious Teacher.You can find it here.

You could either have the students write their name on a Post-It (smaller ones would be better than larger ones) or they could put an X on the chart above the picture.

4. Ice Breaker Activities

One of the activities that I have done the past few years is very simple. I put a piece of masking tape on the floor in the front of the classroom. Students will stand in the front. I will then ask them a question, like "Do you prefer chocolate or vanilla ice cream? Do you prefer math or reading? Cats or dogs?" Students will then stand on either side of the line depending on their choice. It is a fun way to get the students up and moving, get a little information about them, and help them see how they are alike and different from their classmates.

Here is a free list of questions that you can use!

5. All About Me Bags

At Meet the Teacher night I pass out these notes stapled to a brown paper bag. This is a free activity from Kindergarten Squared and can be found on TPT here.

 On the first day of school (or during the first week) students are asked to bring 5 items that represent themselves. I always share my bag first and then I ask 4-5 students to share theirs each day during the first week of school.

I brought a blue crayon (I like blue), a puzzle piece, chocolate bar, rubber duck (ducks are my favorite animal), and Spot It game (I love games!).

So those are a few ideas for the first day of school in a first grade classroom!

Spelling Baseball

Today I want to share a game with you that I haven't tried yet in my classroom, but that I used to play when I was in grade school. It's a game that can be used with any subject really, but I am going to share how I will use it for spelling.

This year my students will play Spelling Baseball!

The first thing you need to do is set up your classroom to resemble a baseball diamond.

You can use the bases that are included in the freebie. I would print them out on cardstock and place them around the room.

Another option would be to pick up these bases from the Dollar Tree. The set includes home plate, first, second, and third base, as well as a pitching rubber. I don't use the pitching rubber for this game.

My plan is to place these bases around the room, with home plate in the front of the classroom.

Now onto the game. The students come up to home plate and they get to choose which type of 'hit' they would like: single, double, triple, or home run. The type of word that they spell will correspond with the following picture.

Each week we study a specific spelling skill, like short a, color words, long e, etc.

1. If the student chooses a single, they will get to spell a word from the current week's spelling unit.

2. If the student chooses a double, they will get to spell a challenge word from the current spelling unit. (Our spelling curriculum includes challenge words in the chapter each week, but you could easily create your own. For example, if the spelling skill was short a and the words were pan, can, man, bat, etc. a challenge word could be cabin or fancy.)

3. If the student chooses a triple, they will get to spell a word from next week's unit. For example, if this week is short a words and next week is short e, they will get to spell a word from the short e unit.

4. If the student chooses a home run, they will get to spell a word from the dictionary. I love when my students spell words from the dictionary. Whenever I open the dictionary to find a new word, they remember the words from the last time we played a game. They learn so many new words this way.

And that's about it! The students move around the bases and score like an actual baseball game.

I think this game is great because it is so easily differentiated and all students can be successful, no matter which level of spelling they are at. I know we will be playing this a lot in my classroom this year!

This product is a forever freebie in my store and you can grab it here!

Now I'm going to work on making a Spelling Basketball game!! (This was also found at Dollar Tree!)

How do you differentiate spelling in your classroom?

Five For Friday

Right now, this looks like an empty box. But soon it will be a voting booth for my students! Stay tuned for a blog post on how I will create the booth.

Yesterday, I went to Half Price Books to peruse the aisles. It was so nice to just have time to look around. I found some great books for lessons, and also a book with graphic organizers for writing poetry. I definitely want to kick my poetry lessons up a notch this year!

Here is a new product I am working on: Spelling Baseball! It was a game I played in the classroom as a student and I can't wait to share it with y'all!

I tend to include food pictures on my Five for Friday posts. And here it is! Popcorn and my childhood favorite: Sno-Caps! I also scored this movie from the $5 bin at Walmart. It's been on my list to buy for ages! This made for a fun and relaxing evening.

Here is my latest puzzle. I also think I completed it in record time: under 3 hours for 300 pieces!!!

Have a great week and don't forget to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching!!

Lucky to Be a Teacher Giveaway!

Well, it's been awhile since I posted last, and I thought a great way to get back into blogging was to share a giveaway opportunity with you! Brooke, over at Countless Smart Cookies, is hosting the Lucky to Be a Teacher giveaway.

Today I am writing to share with you why I believe I am lucky to be a teacher. There are many reasons why teachers choose their profession. For me, I love working with children and sharing my love of learning with them. However, my favorite part of teaching is experiencing those 'aha' moments when something just clicks in the mind of a child. When I taught kindergarten, there were a lot of 'aha' moments when it came to learning how to read. One day, the students might have been struggling with a reading skill, but then something I said would change how they approached the same skill the next day, and then 'aha!' They would have it. And there is no end to those 'aha' moments. They happen each and every day.

Now it's your turn! Comment below on why YOU are lucky to be a teacher and don't forget to enter the giveaway for a chance to win some GREAT prizes!!

You can also check out Brooke's website at http://countlesssmartcookies.blogspot.com/

PreK-Kinder

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First-Second

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Third-Fifth

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Middle-High

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SPED

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Leaving Work at Work

Do you ever get so caught up in work that you wonder where your day went? You say, "I can't wait to read my new book tonight" or "I'll put that puzzle together soon" but you never do? I was feeling that way last semester. After the new year, one of my goals was to set a time limit for myself with work.

Now, you could be thinking, how can I do that? There is NO way I can possibly get everything done that I need to and teach at the same time. I thought so too. But after two weeks of setting my new time limit, I can tell you that it can be done.

My one little word for this year is happiness, which means happiness in all areas of my life. I felt that I was missing out on the happiness of coming home from work each day and spending time with family or doing my hobbies.

There are so many things that I like to do:

I like to cook!



I like to play games!

I like to color!

I love puzzles! 

Now with my new time limit of 5:30 every day (with some exceptions) I have been able to be more productive at work and then more relaxed at home! WIN WIN!!

Teachers should always remember to care for themselves. Then, and only then, can they take care of others.

January Currently

Happy New Year!! Perhaps this year I can actually stick to my resolution of blogging more! It all starts with a Currently!

Listening: If I am listening to the clock ticking, that means that there are no other sounds going on around me. Which means, silence. Sometimes it's nice to just sit and listen to nothing.

Loving: I love puzzles and I got three new puzzles over break! I can't wait to put them together.

Thinking: Even though we just finished break yesterday, I wanted to take tonight to relax. That is also one of my goals for this year: to take more time for myself.

Wanting: Nothing! Life is good :)

Needing: Another one of my goals for this year is to exercise, so my husband and I are going to try to walk/work out a few times a week after work. Then, of course, I need to eat dinner. I'm starving!

One little word: I thought about what word I wanted to represent my year and I settled on happiness. I want to seek happiness in all aspects of my life, including at work, in my family, and with myself.

Even though I was late, you can still link up with Farley!

Have a great week back to school!