Reading Stamina Tip

Happy Sunday, friends!! Thanks for stopping by the Chalkboard today!!!

Lisa from Growing Firsties here, with a post about Reading Workshop for you...

But, before I start, did you see Katie's Primary Chalkboard post the other day about saving your sanity on Valentine's Day? Love her tips!!

Also, be forewarned...her post is also MUCH prettier than mine! (She has a seeeeerious talent for graphics!)

But...hope you'll still like mine, too! :)

My topic today is Reading Workshop - more specifically Private Reading.

Well..that's what we call it for our first graders...we liked that the title is pretty blatant that it's reading done PRI.vate.ly. And...since it's immediately followed up by Partner Reading, when the kiddos come across something they'd like to share from their reading, they are motivated to plan for what they'd like to discuss and read during Partner Reading. (They use sticky notes for this planning.)

It helps that they place their chairs back to back, too. :)


I digress...

This particular tip is helpful for those friends that have a hard time staying engaged during Private Reading.

Not that I E.V.E.R. have students with troubles like that.

I'm sharing this for a friend.

On the left (green) side, kiddos put all their book box books. As they read each one, it goes onto the right (red) side.

Once they finish, if there's still time, they move the pile from the red side to the green side and start again.

Please forgive the I-forgot-to-take-a-pic-of-it-at-school-with-classroom-library-books sample above...I quickly made one with the THREE books available to me downstairs in the kitchen while my own kids were sleeping.

But you get the idea, right?

It works nicely, too, for students who really love that sense of accomplishment that one gets from moving stuff from to-do to done! Sooo, I invite EVERYone to try it and privately really ENcourage a few friends in particular.

Right now, my firsties are reading for 35 mn during Private Reading while I confer and meet with small groups. Partner Reading remains at around 8 minutes.

If you'd like to check out a few more posts about Reading Workshop...head on over and check these posts out...

Book Box Organization

General Update on RW (includes a few freebies)

Smiles to you! Lisa

FREEBIE - Find, Tally & Graph Christmas

I'm so happy to be dropping by for a super-dee-duper quick little post today! 

Lisa here, from Growing Firsties...

I just love the holiday season...though I will say my to-do list is eleventy million miles long!! Surely, you're in the same situation!!!

My class has been BEGging me for another Find, Tally, Graph...so I obliged...and wanted to share with you, too!!!!

Just click the pic to snag it up. :)

The warmest of holidays to you all!!!

Would love for you to stop by and say hello over at Growing Firsties...

Countdown to Turkey Time!

Happy almost Thanksgiving Break! 

Tammy and Christy here from Fluttering Through First Grade, officially counting down to turkey time. 

We're pretty sure you may be counting down too...

Us teachers have a tendency to do that. 

Right?

November is a quick month for us at school {Insert two teachers jumping for joy, maybe, *possibly* even screaming like school girls here}, but just enough time to share some of our favorite activities.

We love to bring the story of Thanksgiving to life with Dr. Jean's Thanksgiving bracelet. You can read about it {here}. We created a class read aloud poster and worksheet to go along with the bracelet. It's free by clicking the image above. Enjoy!

A class that cooks together, stays together. Right? Well, for the school year at least. 

We are one of the *lucky* classes who get to go to school the few days before Thanksgiving.

Are you *lucky* too?

It's the perfect opportunity to sharpen our annual cooking skills by baking with our class.

We pull up our sleeves and bake pumpkin bread turkeys with our favorite little turkeys. 

This will be our 12th year baking for Thanksgiving. It quickly became an experience they remember for years to come. Plus, the pumpkin bread is kind of ridiculously moist and super delicious...just saying.

On the days that drag follow we decorate our turkey pumpkin breads to look like turkeys and take our class through the entire writing process about their baking experience.

We collect one pound coffee cans for this project, but have adapted it so you can use small bread loaf pans as well. We bake in our school oven, but have also asked parents to take them home to bake or have even stuffed our own ovens. 

Click the pic above to see it in our TpT Shop.

Ummm...We know. We love him too.

We make these every year for our parent volunteers. But, shhh...Please don't tell them. We haven't made them quite yet this year. We know, we'd better get cracking crafting!

Are you a crafter? 

Is that a silly question for a teacher?

If you answered, yes and yes,  hop on over to our blog {here}to see how to make him too.

Happy Thanksgiving sweet friends!

Thankful Saturday!

Happy Saturday everyone! It's Leslie from First Grade and Flip Flops! 

SO excited to be blogging with you today! It's the month of November and it's a month that we all say what we are most thankful for-- well, really, we should be thankful every day, right? LOL! So here are some things I am thankful for!

I really do love this month in my classroom because I get to do some of my favourite activities with my first graders. One of them is the Disguise the Turkey project and the other is my Thankful Hearts project. Can I just say, heartwarming tears and hearts!!! I pass out hearts to all the families with a simple letter and families are to write what they are more thankful for in their child. Here are a few examples:

This is the one I did for my own son who is in first grade! xoxo

I always read them during writing block and call the kids up with me as I read the hearts. They beam and shine as they listen to the words their families write. All you need is a large heart (I used the large heart die cut from our Ellison machine) and attached the parent letter. Simple, easy and very heartwarming. Here is the letter I used if you'd like a copy:

Click on the pic to grab yours! 

I am also extremely thankful to work on a team that I call family! I love the girls I work with! They are truly my family. It totally makes coming to school so much fun! Some of us have come and gone but we have remained great friends and sisters. Do you work in a school like that? 

Then there's my family and boys. Love them to pieces. 

Thankful for these after school. I call them Brownie Crack. Seriously, you need to try these! Especially after a very trying day at school!

Lastly, thankful for the fabulous ladies of the Primary Chalkboard and our equally fabulous followers! Here is a freebie for you! I created it to help my students with l-blends. 

Click on the pic to grab your FREEBIE!

I hope that each and every day you find the little and big things to be thankful for! Have a great Saturday and hope you see you back here, on our blogs, and on our FB pages! 

Love to you!

Leslie

Report Cards, Student Feedback, and a Freebie!

Happy Hump Day Everyone! It's Marie from


I'm not sure when you have your first batch of report cards/conferences, but I'm just finishing up mine for our first trimester. Every year around this time I feel an odd sense of calmness because I've just finished a week-long marathon of parent-teacher conferences. This year, I had 38 conferences!!! Don't feel too sorry for me...I don't have 38 students....I do, however, have 24 in my regular homeroom and we switch for math and so I meet with those families too.

Anyways...when I'm giving my students their scores and handing out report cards it always reminds me that it's time again to give my students a chance to GRADE ME! :)

I started doing this a few years ago, and believe it or not, I got some really good feedback! You know what they say, "Kids say the darnedest things!"...but they also speak the truth (for the most part!).

Here are a couple samples from this year:

Now, I'm not sure how well this would go over with an older crowd, but my guess is...if you give this to Kinders, 1st, or 2nd graders, you are going to be just fine :)

I always tell students that they are NOT to put their names...this way they are more likely to tell you what they really think. AND...I encourage comments! I read each line and then give students time to put in their answers. Then, I have them put them into our finished work box and promise not to look at them until the end of the day when they've all gone home. 

After that, I sit back and settle in to read all about what they think I'm doing well and not-so well...

I shared this on my FB page and so many of my followers seemed interested that I wanted to share it here with ya'll! AND....I made a freebie for you guys so that you can all let your students grade you! 

I hope you'll give it a try!

Just click the image above to grab your free TEACHER REPORT CARD!

Don't forget that throughout the month of November all of us Chalkies will be posting some fun ideas and resources for you as we work our way up to a BLACK FRIDAY surprise! Check in often and PIN what you like to save it! :)

Marie