MON-STAR CENTERS and a GIVEAWAY!!!

MON-STAR CENTERS

I love the way that I operate my Literacy Centers!

It is very simple, hardly no prep, and the kids love it ALL year long!

Here is a peek at all my CENTERS and how each one works!

This picture shows how my centers are organized!
I take photos of my kiddos and group them with partners (2 groups will have 3 students)! I place their picture on the board and pin my "Mon-STAR" center labels underneath their picture. We typically do 1 center a day .... so the next day I just rotate the centers around by moving down the "Mon-STAR" labels.
I find the pictures make it very visual for the students to see what they are doing for Literacy Center time. Plus, they think it is so neat to have their picture displayed for all to see!

BIG BOOK CENTER
The students go to my BIG BOOK area (little storage unit I found specifically for big books) and pull out a book of their choice! While they are reading I have them look for any of our weekly vocabulary words, amazing words, or focused "sounds" that we are working on. For instance, this week we reviewed letters Cc, Nn, Pp, and short /a/. This student is writing down any words that display these skills! To BEEF up the center throughout the year I easily change out pointers that they students can use to help track their reading. Once I decided to staple 5-6 pieces of poster board together and I let a group write and illustrate their own BIG BOOK! I still have their finished product at the center! SO NEAT!

LIBRARY CENTER
My library is my PRIDE and JOY! I organized my library based on book levels. I have a folder with each level and I place students' names under the level that is appropriate for them. When students go to the library they check the folder to see what level they should pull from, and then simply pull a book that looks interesting to them. They read the book silently to themselves while enjoying a comfy chair or rug! Later in the year I may have them read a book and complete a foldable or worksheet that correlates with a recent reading skill we have studied. For instance I may have them reproduce a foldable identifying the characters and setting in the book that they read. This early in the year I just let them read a book, and if they finish prior to the end of centers they just select a new book! 

Listening Center
I have to admit that this center is a class favorite! You can tell the kids are always anxious to get their turn at the Listening Center. I was blessed to be given wireless headphones this past year, which made this center SO much easier! Our library has a large stock of books on CDs that I check out once a week. The children get their book out, put on their headphones, and press play! How EASY is that! Better yet they are engaged the WHOLE time! Check out my kiddos following along with their POINTER fingers ........ Not trying to honk my own horn but .... TOOT TOOT!!

MAGNETIC CENTER
I owe this center to my WONDERFUL husband! When I realized I needed some cubbies for my classroom, we got busy building (much cheaper than buying them already made)! I knew I would place my red cubby so that I would create a "hallway" type entrance into my classroom. So my brain started pondering because I KNEW I wanted to still use that space! So we went and found a sheet of metal, drilled it to the back of the cubby, and BAM you have a magnetic center! The kiddos grab my bucket of magnetic letters and build words. They can build spelling words, vocabulary words, or focused letters/sounds that we are focusing on during the week!

READ TO SELF
Granted this isn't the class favorite, BUT it is SO IMPORTANT!
The students use their reading textbook at this center and simply read to themselves! I have them read the weekly story twice, and then they are allowed to check out a library book to read! I make it engaging by allowing them a variety of tools to help them read! They can use our "Reading Phones," they can wear REALLY big glasses (another Dollar Tree treasure), or a magnifying glass! These little tools make this center fun and engaging for the students!

WORD WORK CENTER
This is the only center that takes a LITTLE bit of prep from me each week! I change this center up each week or every other week depending on what skills we are working with in reading. This week (beginning of the year) we reviewed the letters Cc, Pp, Nn, and short /a/. So I BUSTED out my stamps. The students used the stamps to create words with the sounds/letters we were studying. Sometimes they have a cut/paste type of Word Work activity, sometimes they have a Phonics related board game they can play. This is the only center that really varies from week to week.

Writing Center
Write, Write, Write!
The only thing the students have to do at this center is WRITE! I have a Writing Center wall that offers the students a multitude of ideas of things to write about, or different forms of writing! I provide a little buckets with writing tools. Since this is the beginning of the year I only have some pencils and crayons in the box. Later on I will spice it up by providing funky pencils/pens, markers, fun stationary, and anything else I may find that will engage them and make them excellent authors! First week of school and these babies are writing away ....... and it is so neat to see how PROUD they are of their work!

READY FOR THE GIVEAWAY.....

All you have to do is FOLLOW my blog and then leave a COMMENT with your email address! In the next week you will receive some FREE GOODIES that your children will LOVE to have as a Reading resource!

I can't wait to start sending this FREE Reading Response packet!




 

 



One More One Less

One More, One Less

is about to make me go BONKERS!

This is such a HARD skill for beginning 1st Graders to grasp! I have worked and worked at this skill ALL week ..... and today I was almost brought to TEARS when I watched it "click" with some struggling students!

 

So I thought I would share some of my TRICKS in hopes that it may work for someone else too!

I searched and searched for a hands-on manipulative for my students to use with this concept and came up empty handed! SO I made my own ......

I made these tables on Word, printed them, laminated them, and HORRAY we have a tool to use!

The kids loved using their dry erase markers and I think it really helped them to have the visual of "before" and "after" without using those words! I really try to make myself say "one more" and "one less."

I would call a number and they would write that number in the middle. Then I would prompt them to figure out One More and One Less. I would walk around and observe who was getting it .... and who was still struggling!

 

Later in the week I found this Dice Game...

Who doesn't love playing with dice?

The student's roll two dice, pick a number, write it in the middle column, and then answer One More and One Less! I had my kiddos work with a partner! This was also differentiated very easily in a sense due to the students getting to choose their number!

For instance if their die was a 2 and a 5 .... they could use the number 25 or 52!

The struggling students I noticed were more apt to choose the smaller numbers!

 I found this interesting!

Students' differentiating their own work .... Who would have thought!?

 

This is how we ROLL...

 

I picked up these little containers at the Dollar Tree!

 (yes I'm a Dollar Tree Diva)

I place two Dice inside so that the kiddos can shake them and look at their numbers, without the hassle of dice being thrown around the room or falling off their desk! PLUS, they think its SUPER cool! Much better than your plain ole' dice!

 

 





Nouns, Nouns, Nouns

I'm LOVING those NOUNS!

 

My class hit NOUNS this week ..... and we hit the HARD!

 

Not the prettiest anchor chart you have ever seen .... but it served it's purpose WELL! Check out what it looked like after our Introduction to Nouns and our classroom brainstorming of WORDS...

 

After our Noun Introduction and Brainstorming session we watched a FUN video about Nouns! BEWARE this tune will be stuck in your head for hours! Just click on the link to watch!

 

Insert Foldable!
The kiddos love making these!
When you open up the flap you will find 3-4 examples of each kind of noun!

 

 

 



Characters and Setting

Characters and Setting

 

We jumped off the diving board and DOVE right into identifying Characters and Setting this week! My school has the Reading Street series, so this week we were reading the story "Snap." Of course I just can't read the story and complete the workbook pages ..... my GOAL is always to make it ENGAGING and FUN!

 

So..... we started to listening to "The Rainbow Fish" at Storyline Online! LOVE THIS BOOK!

(This is a great website that has famous actors/actresses read popular children's books)

 

After listening to the story, I play the SILLY teacher (I do this often) and stated that the setting of the story was in a jungle! The kids almost had a come-apart! "NO Mrs. Jessica, you are wrong," they exclaimed! I then had them prove to me that I was wrong! Hmmm.... higher order thinking anyone .... common core anyone??? LOVE IT!

I then let them work with a partner and complete a Character/Setting Sort! This was a quick way for me to assess if they could distinguish what a character/setting was!

 

Finally, we dug into our weekly story "Snap." After reading I assessed my student's mastery of the skill by having them complete this Character/Setting Interactive Journal page! This was our first time with an Interactive Journal page so it took some time and modeling to ensure they got it right (where to cut and where to glue to ensure success)! It was SUCCESSFUL to say the least!

 

 



We proudly displayed our work on the wall for all to see!

Parent Night Success!

Parent Night

 

At the beginning of each school year, we host a Parent Night! This is the opportunity to invite your parents to school so that you can give a short presentation about the in and outs of your classroom!

I bribe my little kiddos with an incentive so that I ensure to have a great turnout! My bribe: If you have a parent show up for Parent Night .... you get a trip to the treasure box the next day (who can't resist that)! I LOVE starting the year off with a GREAT relationship with all my parents! We all are on the same TEAM right!?

After putting in some hours after school .... my classroom is ready to welcome all of our parents! Notice the fun gift I give my parents! A picture of their child on the 1st day of school! It says "HANDS DOWN 1st Grade is the BEST!" Always give the parents something cute to leave with from their child!

Here is what I include in my Parent Night Packet:
Apple for the Parent Note
A Note from Scholastic about our Scholastic orders (found on Scholastic)
A Note for Remind101

You can find a similar apple note by clicking the link above! I used the die-cut machines at my school to cut out the apples and then I just attached the poem!
If you have not heard about Remind101 I HIGHLY suggest you click on the link and sign up! It is a GREAT resource and FREE! My parents love that I have this way to send quick reminders (we all know how crazy life gets)!

Other than this.... I present my PPT presentation that highlights my rules, procedures, homework, grades, and the 1st grade curriculum! Of course I make my PPT monster themed! I purchased my PPT template here.
 



First Week of 1st Grade

I don't know about YOU,

but I'm EXHAUSTED!

Here is a glimpse of my

First Week of 1st Grade

 

 

 

Of course we started off the 1st Day learning about our Rules! Then I complete this activity so that the students know the difference between Good Choices and Bad Choices! I give each student a card and then they must place their card in the right category! As each student does so, we discuss why it is a Good Choice or Bad Choice! I keep the chart displayed for the first few weeks of school and refer back to it!
You can find this activity here and it's FREE!

 

Then I read one of my favorite books "A Bad Case of Tattle Tongue" by Julia Cook. This will help teach the class the difference between a tattle and a warning! Of course I found a cute craft to go along with this lesson! You can see I displayed it right above our class Tattle Box!

You can find the craft here!

 

Later in the week we started to review our letter sounds and I BUSTED out my Slinkys! I use these to help us STRECTH out our CVC words! The kiddos LOVED it! Then on Friday when I tested them orally on sounding out some simple short /a/ CVC words, they went through the hand motions of stretching the Slinky out! I was so PROUD of my beginning readers!
I found these Slinkys at the Dollar Tree. They came with 2 in a pack for a dollar! Then I found a pack of 6 at Wal-Mart in the party section for $1.50! Make sure to pick up extra in case some get tangled (you know that is going to happen)!

  

We also started to learn about NOUNS this week! I introduced the concept of Nouns being People, Places, or Things using an Anchor Chart (forgot to capture the picture)! We brainstormed different examples of each and added them to our anchor chart! Then I gave each student a card that had a picture and word on it (to help those students who struggle reading) and had them place it under the right category! For my quick assessment we completed a picture sort independently! You can see some precious Firsties working hard on their work below!

 

 

 

You can find these Noun Sort worksheet here and its FREE!

Guess What? The picture cards are FREE too!

  

This activity is WONDERFUL!
It is a bit stressful for your students, but after you do this you will LOVE it!
Each year in the first few days of school we complete 4 dictation sentences! I say these sentences aloud and instruct the students to write the sentence to the best of their ability!
I don't help them AT ALL! Save this writing in their files to pull back out later!
Yes, this causes some frustration but there is reason!
We conduct our first parent teacher conferences mid September, and right before conferences I have the students complete the same dictation sentences again! Then when I meet with their parents we compare their writing from the beginning of the year to the present!
The results are always AMAZING!
The amount of improvement you will see in their writing in a matter of 6 weeks is CRAZY!
Your parents will LOVE you and you will have evidence to confirm that ALL your hard work is paying off and producing results! Then I do the same dictation sentences again at the end of the year, and we make a little book to send home with the kiddos! Below are two examples of some student's work (names are being covered of course)!
I can't wait to see how much they improve!

I also repeat the same process to show progress in Math! My students fill in this semi-blank 100 chart and I file it away! I pull it  out at conferences to show improvement on number writing/counting abilities! Again, it will be frustrating for some students who want help BUT it is WORTH the frustration! I also think it helps the children to learn how to work independently and persevere in their work!



 

 

 

 

I will be adding more Goodies from our 1st Week of 1st Grade later in the week so STAY TUNED!

Don't forget to FOLLOW my blog! 

 

 

 

 



I Survived Registration Day!

I Survived Registration Day!

 

Registration Day is not only hectic for us as teachers, it is very stressful for our parents! They walk into our classroom and are pulled in several different directions! They are exploring the room wondering what is in store for their student, they have a zillion forms to fill out, they feel obligated to tell you their child's life story, they have questions to ask, they need to sign up for snacks/events, and etc.! Not to mention most parent have several kids they have to register!
This is why I give each parent a Registration Checklist! This helps the parent ensure they do everything I need them to do prior to leaving!

 

At each desk I place a folder that has the student's name on it! When you open the folder one side reads "Return to School" and the other side reads "Leave at Home." The "Return to School" side are the forms that I need the parent to complete and turn in to me. The "Leave at Home" side contains TON of notes, my classroom handout, and a letter to them from the teacher. They are so LUCKY to get all this information and take it home to read!
My classroom handout contains information about me, my rules and procedures, our classroom schedule, and upcoming dates to look forward to.

 

Of course I have to give each new student a little treat before they leave my room!
These balloons were PERFECT! I found them at the Dollar Tree and they blow them up for you and they were only $1.00! Who can beat that! It was tricky driving to school with 20 balloons in my backseat! It was probably not the safest thing, but I made it there safely! The kiddos loved them!

 

The balloons also made the room look so FESTIVE when you walk in!

 

 

The most important thing I make sure each parent completes is our "How I Stomp Home" chart!
They find their child's name and record how they get home each day! I also write our county's bus garage phone number so that parents can confirm their child's bus number!

 

 

SNACKS are so important! My class has one of the latest lunch times, which means by 10-11 my babies are starving! So each day we have a 10 min. snack break. On my weekly newsletter I have a snack calendar. Parent who sign up for our snack schedule, will be asked to donate snack for our WHOLE class 1-2 times per month! This tends to work the best for me so that EVERYONE gets a snack, and it saves money for the parents!

 

 



 

While the parents are BUSY doing ALL these things, what are the kids doing? I always make sure to set up a few things on my carpet for the students to keep entertained with! I placed out blocks, big floor puzzles, and I always put some coloring books and crayons at my back table! The kids and their siblings are easily entertained so that the parents can take their time getting everything accomplished!

Registration is Over!
Now it is time to sort all those forms, and organize everything to be prepared for the 1st DAY OF SCHOOL!
 

 

First day of in-service .... Need I say more!

My Classroom

I still have to change the Ms. to Mrs. since I am now a married woman!
 I won't lie I just realized this while posting the picture!

 

Ahhh ... my classroom is finally looking like a classroom again! I have a few minor touches to make it complete, but overall it is READY for my new 19 kiddos to come and make it their new home! I received my class list and wrote their names on everything! Isn't is exciting to see 19 precious names and feeling so anxious and excited to get to know these AWESOME kiddos that will become "my" children in a matter of days! Yes, I refer to them as "my" children! My own children/family has learned to accept this fact!

 

This is not a GREAT picture, but these are my new Hallway Work Display Monsters! I found this SUPER cute Monster note pad, laminated the sheets, and glued them on clothespins! We are ready to display the great work we do in my classroom! I wish I would have listened to my heart and bought several of these notepads; however my bank acct. won and I only bought one! If I find these again I'll have to STOCK up!



The most important thing to find out on Meet the Teacher day is "How do I get home?" My first year I remember having nightmares about dismissing and not knowing how to send some of my babies home, or WORSE sending them home the wrong way!
 
This hangs right by my door and I put a student clip on the circle that tells me how they get home. I also keep and list on a clipboard next to it for substitutes in case of emergencies! The lanyards you see hanging are my hall passes that the students wear when they need to leave the classroom!

Grab your Transportation Display here!



So what do you do when you line up and realize you still have 3-5 minutes before you have to leave? That is where these little babies come in handy! The top packet is Line Up Chants and Songs, and the bottom packet are 5 minute time filler questions that you can ask your students in line! LOVE THESE!
Grab some of these goodies here and here!

Monster Charts!
I have my Birthday chart, Job chart, Months of the Year, and Day of the Week!
I purchased all of the Monster Themed supplies at Trend Enterprise! 

 

I am in love with my cubbies that my WONDERFUL husband built me! I knew that the back of this cubby was going to be exposed and create a "hallway" like entrance into my classroom! Of course I had to find I way to make this space useful so ..... we went and got some sheet metal and drilled it to create the back of the cubby! NOW I have a magnetic center for my students to use each week in our Literacy centers! I decorated it up with some monster border of course! My kiddos love it!
The baskets you see on top are there for "Meet the Teacher" day, which will be a later post!

 

LOVE my group tables! Now that I have had group tables, I will never want to go back to regular desks EVER! It makes group work and activities SO much easier! On each desk I place their name plates (these are wonderful because they hold their pencils too), and a red supply bucket! In each bucket I have Ziploc bags labeled with their names. They will put their supplies (crayons, glue, scissors, erasers) in their bag! This way they have what they need at their seat in a nice organized way!
You can find the name plates at Lake Shore Learning or just click here!

 

Work to ROAR about! I can't wait to see the GREAT work my kiddos will be anxious to share!

 

My library was my BIG project last year! I purchased my shelves from Big Lots and then got busy organizing my books into levels! I put labels on every book (yes EVERY book) and then put them in the right place on the shelve. The bins at the top are seasonal books that I have ready to use for different holidays/occasions! When my students go to the library they get out a folder that tells them what levels they should be pulling books from. I update the folder often so that the students are reading on a level JUST RIGHT for them!

In the process of moving out my room for cleaning in the summer, I lost my "K" label! I still need to get that replaced!

 

 

What Kind of Monster Are You?

In my classroom positive reinforcement is a BIG deal! I'm a firm believer that putting emphasis on the good vs. the bad makes a HUGE impact on the classroom environment! When my students make poor choices they are asked to move their clips down and will face a punishment like loss of some recess time. HOWEVER, when a student makes a good decision they move their clips up and earn tickets for our treasure box! You would be shocked at how much power is behind "Kate I LOVE how you are engaged and working really hard on your work, please go move your clip up!" Suddenly you notice that Johnny and Amy who were talking are now working diligently because I moved Kate's clip up! I could have just made Johnny and Amy move their clips down, but focusing on a positive behavior was much more effective and it gave Kate a BOOST in her confidence! LOVE IT!

Get your Behavior Clip Banner here!

 

Do you have a TATTLE problem?
Meet BOB the Tattle Monster! When you have a Tattle, write it on a note, and let BOB eat it up! I check BOB's tattles every so often and address things that I may need to address. NOW on the first few days we have a lot of discussions about What is a Tattle vs. What is something Mrs. Jessica needs to know! Also, make sure the students see you check BOB's tattles, so they feel like they are being heard. I made BOB out of  a tissue box using some paint, white foam paper, and googley eyes!
I will post my "Tattle" activities on the 1st week of school!
Grab your TATTLE monster poem here!

 

 

My Writing Center! This offers great ideas to get the students' brain flowing with ideas! I also place a small container with pencils, erasers, crayons, pens, and markers for the students to use while at the center! (Ignore the papers in the picture, my children were using the center supplies while MOMMY was trying to finish up her classroom!)
Do you want this Writing Center?
Grab it here!

 

Ok so this board is a little BLANK right!?
On "Meet the Teacher" night I will take my little kiddos' pictures and they will be placed on this board! I pair my students up and then add labels beneath their pictures to tell them what Literacy center they will be at for the day! The kiddos love seeing their pictures up in the classroom!

 

 

I've Got some SMART COOKIE MONSTERS!
I purchased this resource on TPT and LOVE it to help my students gain fact fluency! Each Wednesday we complete a fact quiz! If they score a 100% they add cookies into their cookie jar (I buy cookie crisp and give them a scoop for a special snack, and then put a cookie sticker on their jar). The resource also has recording sheets so you can track each student's progress. If they don't score 100% they take the same quiz the next week! The kiddo's really look forward to earing cookies!
Smart Cookie Math

 

Mon-Star Math Mash!
I am still deciding how I want to use this board honestly! I thought of trying to use this board to display my math centers, or posting our Math anchor charts here to show what we are learning!? If you have any suggestions please share, because I'm a little stuck!!

 

This is where my little darlings will turn in their work! Do the monsters look familiar!? I also put my pencils here for the kids to get when needed! I will (have not done this yet) have some highlighters here so that students will highlight their names on their papers prior to turning it in .... I don't know about you but my babies have a hard time remembering to put their names on everything and the HIGHLIGHTERS really help! EVERYONE wants to use a highlighter because they are SOO much fun!

 

 

Oscar the Grouch! Our classroom trash can! Just buy a red trash can and paint the dots and teeth! PVC pipes make some great eyes with a little (a lot) of hot glue! Throw two Styrofoam balls into the pipes and paint on the eyeballs! TAADDAAH, you have a monster trash can! This is something I usually get a lot of comments about from parents on "Meet the Teacher" day!

 

A look at my carpet area! I LOVE my puzzle mats! Affordable and efficient! I believe I found these at Lowe's!

 

My schedule .... as long as nothing changes as the year goes on! You guys know how THAT is!
Schedule Cards

 

A little cork board, ribbon, and initials and BANG ... a place to hang all those cute pictures and notes from my lovely kiddos throughout the year! They love to see their gifts displayed!
My initials have changed now due to my marriage and all, BUT I don't think I'll have time to correct this until next year! Hopefully no one will notice!?

 

Ahhh, a clean organized desk! I have to take in this moment because in a week  I know it will no longer look like this!!!

 

Supply storage, Supply Storage, and organizer for my Literacy center groups! This looks a little PLAIN Jane to me ..... I'm going to work on sprucing up the look of this area!


WOW it's FINISHED (almost)!
I am so anxious to meet my 19 students on Wednesday ... I can hardly stand it! Look forward to my Meet the Teacher post!