Primary Chalkboard: TpT
Showing posts with label TpT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TpT. Show all posts

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


Halloween Spider Sort ~ Vowel Sorting *Freebie*

 
Hey Chalk Talkers!
Christy & Tammy here from Fluttering Through First Grade.

Do you like spiders? 
We tend to find them all over our classroom throughout the school year.
We have our students on high spider alert at times, just to be safe.
Upon "spider siren" (think shrieking, ear piercing voices yelping, "Spider! Spider!"), we whisk on over with a paper towel so we can carefully "relocate" them upon discovery. :)

This time of year is a perfect time however to allow our eight legged friends to stick around class awhile.
Our boys love this activity and our girls don't mind it either, as one so eloquently informed us, "because the spiders are on paper and not in the Legos". We took that as a compliment coming from our two legged friend.
*Directions for use
*1 Recording Page
*2 Sorting Mats
*10 Short Vowel Cards
*10 Long Vowel Cards
*4 Blank Cards 

Here's a sneak peek at a few of the printable pages...



 
Click {here} to find it in our TpT Shop. Enjoy!
We'd love for you to follow our store and leave some feedback if you decide to download. 
Thanks!
 If you're just dropping by Primary Chalkboard for the first time this week, make sure you head back over to Tuesday's Post to check out our 
Monsterous Giveaway!
We're offering our  
 in the First Grade Bundle.

There are tons of great units up for grabs, 
plus a Mega Prize Pack that we wish we could enter ourselves! 
So, please enter and win for us so we can say we know the winner! :)
Click {here} to enter.
Good luck!

Applefest Continues!


Happy Apple Week from Simply Skilled in Second and Fluttering Through First Grade


We are so excited to share some fun with you today!  
Thank you so much for stopping by to check out the Primary Chalkboard.
This week is all about.... APPLES!!!!  
We guess you can call it an Applefest :)

Hi Friends! It's Anna from Simply Skilled in Second! I wanted to share with you what I am planning to do during my Applefest!  Every year we tie in apples during our Fall Observation Week that is connected to our science unit.  We observe a tree in each of the different seasons, predict and record the temperature for the week, and record the sunrise and sunset time for each day during our observation week.  I read many different read-alouds throughout the week that have a focus on apples.  On Friday, we have our Applefest.  The children are engaged in many different types of activities with apples.  They weigh, measure, and describe apples.  We also have the parents come in a do a baking activity with the students where they get to use standard forms of measurement with baking.  
This year I have decided to add some additional stations into my Applefest Day.  Most of my Apple Stations revolve around math, however, this year I am going to add some ELA stations into the mix as well.  They are going to be making an Apple Flip-Flap Book when they arrive at each of the ELA stations.  At the first ELA station they will create the "A" and the "P" in their Apple Flip-Flap Book where they will complete an apple graphic organizer to describe an apple using their senses.  The next ELA station they will create the next letter "P" where they will color and label the parts of an apple tree.  Next, they will read through a short non-fiction text about apples and then label the parts of an apple and color it.  After that, they will complete the "E" page where they will label and color the life cycle of an apple.  Lastly, they will finish with the "S" page where they record the results of the class data on each students' favorite apple.  I am so excited that I added an ELA portion to my Apple Day.  Now I will have covered my math and ELA lessons for the whole day and we get a yummy baked treat at the end as our reward for our hard-work!  Take a look at some of the pictures below of the apple flip-flap book.

This is what the apple flip-flap book will look like when it is complete.



This is what each page of Apple Flip-Flap Book looks like!

If you are interested in trying this out with your students, click the image below to head on over to my TPT Shop to pick it up.

Howdy Apple Lovers! 
It's Christy & Tammy from Fluttering Through First Grade
Are you a Honey Crisp kinda person? 
Maybe more of a Gala Girl? 
Any Granny Smith Lovers? 
We're a Dipped in Chocolate or Caramel if at all Possible People ourselves...
It really is an Applefest!
Each fall, we bring real apples as well as apple chips into class to introduce adjectives to our first graders. We demonstrate the importance of "juicy" words when writing through food. It's our way of introducing adjectives without them knowing they are being introduced to adjectives. :)
As they are snacking, we ask them to describe their apples versus apple chips. They come up with words like dry, crunchy, yummy, and dull for the apple chips and words like juicy, crisp, delicious and yum-o for the apples. Yes, we know...Yum-o is not technically a word, but in Rachel Ray's world it is and we are dealing with food, so we took it as a child who was channeling their inner Food Network Star. 

As we chat, we discuss the importance of using describing words when we write because apple chips mean dry, boring details and juicy apples mean descriptive, detailed sentences.

And, P.S. This has absolutely nothing to do with Trader Joe's apple chips. We adore them and Joe. In fact, when the lesson is done we have at least 5 kids come ask where we got them from because they are so delicious. So technically, we are helping you Joe. 
You're welcome. 
We've created some Juicy Apple Adjectives activities and just added them to our TpT Shop. 

Plus, we are firm believers that all party guests Applefest attendees should leave with party favors...So, our Juicy Apple Adjectives activities are FREE! 
Enjoy!


We Love Apples!!!




It is Apples Week on the Primary Chalkboard blog and we are very excited to share some of our favorite apple products with you.  And of course there's a FREEBIE!!!
During Apples Week I read so many books to my students.  Click on the picture to see a list of great Apple books to read with your students.


Here is my Apple Unit that is available on TPT!

Apple Unit Activities for PreK K 1st

This is a 48 page unit full of apple activities to accompany your study of apples and Johnny Appleseed. Visit my blog at http://flyingintofirst.blogspot.com and get some freebies from this unit. This unit includes the following:
Apple Color Graph
Apple Color Data
Vocabulary Chart
Vocabulary Cards
Apple Sorting
Comparing Apples
Apple Themed Word Search
Life Cycle of an Apple Tree
Life Cycle of an Apple Tree cards
KWL Chart
Apple 5 Senses
Apples Taste, Have, and Are Writing page
Labels to make a taste, have, are whole group chart
Apple Bubble and Circle Map
Johnny Appleseed Bubble and Circle Map
Acrostic Poem Page to create for Apple
Apple Parts Labeling
8x11 Johnny Appleseed Mini Book (6 pages)
Apple Pattern Task Cards along with Cards to make patterns on pocket chart
Apple Colors page to review colors
and
Here is your FREEBIE!   I really hope you can use it with your students!
Click on the cover page to grab it!






Happy Apples Week!!!









Meet the Chalkies: From Beaches to Deserts, It's Corinna and Marie!


It's the best of both worlds. One of us lives in the dry, hotter than hot desert of Arizona....and the other escaped Arizona and moved to a tropical paradise in Hawaii. 

For those of you who don't know, Marie would be the one that lives in Arizona, where half the year is unbearable, but the other half makes it totally worth it! Corinna is the lucky lady who spends her days teaching and free time surfing!

We hope you'll stick around to get to know us both a little better below:

Meet Me (Marie)
 from    

1. What is your ACADEMIC STRENGTH? I am a passionate math teacher. I love teaching, but I absolutely ADORE teaching math to my Firsties. I did not have the strongest/best math teachers growing up, and I didn’t appreciate math until I took a college course on how to teach math to young children. Ever since then, I cannot get enough of learning new ways to teach math to kids!

2. What is an intangible that you have that makes your classroom environment special? I am known for being “warm and fuzzy”, and once had a student write an essay on her hero. I had this student in 2nd grade, and in 3rd grade her teacher asked her to write about her hero. She chose to write about me. One line in her essay that really hit home was this: “Mrs. Cote was always there for us when times were tough and she understood us.” I try my best to get to know each of my students enough that I can love on them and let them know I mean business at the same time.

3. Which of your products is your FAVORITE to use with your students? Oh, my BRAG BRACELETS, for sure! I love seeing the look on their face when I tell them they have earned a brag bracelet! 
       



4.What is your favorite freebie from your store? One of my favorite newer freebies in my store is this fun set of colorful backgrounds!




Aloha! I am so glad you are here and happy to be teaming up with my blogging buddy Marie.  I began my teaching career in 1993 in Mesa, Arizona.  20 years later I have ended up teaching 2nd grade here in Hawaii.

 When did you know you wanted to be a teacher?

School was always hard for me when I was young.  I wasn't super smart and I was very shy.  We were one of the only hispanic families in an all caucasian neighborhood in the 70's.  Needless to say I often didn't fit in and got picked on a lot.  In 5th and 6th grade I had the same teacher, Miss Bresnahan.  She was young and funny and pushed me to work hard.  She made me feel special and smart and I will never forget that.  She inspired me to want to become a teacher.  I love all my students, but I am always out to support the "underdogs" in my classroom.

 What is your academic strength?  

Although I really love teaching math and science, my teaching strength is Language Arts/Reading.  I love reading and sharing books and my library is jam packed full of them.  I have a pile in my living room that still need to be labeled and taken to school!  At school I read aloud to my kids EVERYDAY and share my favorite books from when I was a kid along with my latest purchases.  I love guided reading and I pride myself on taking even the lowest of my readers and making them excited about books and reading.  I love using the Daily 5 in my classroom and it has done wonders for getting my students to Read, Read, Read! Second grade is such a wonderful age to really see them grow and develop over the year.  

 What is your literacy routine?

Each morning my students come in and begin their Daily Morning Work.  On Mondays I give a pre-test for Spelling using my Differentiated Spelling program.  We then have our Surfer Of The Week share about themselves and we all write a letter to that person.

Tuesday through Friday we have our Daily 5 schedule.  I try to meet with the lowest groups 3 times per week and I usually have time for 3 rotations per day.  I also have Writer's Workshop 4 days per week.

I am so happy that you have stopped by! I have an exclusive freebie for you:

This is my Playful Pronoun Pack.  It is only free for those of you stopping by here.


Just click on the picture to grab this in Google Docs.

Please visit me anytime at my blog Surfin' Through Second



And you can visit Marie at The Hands On Teacher In First




Welcome to Our Chalk Shops ~ They're ALL on Sale for Back to School!


We're sure you've heard the BIG news. 
Teachers Pay Teachers is kicking off the school year in a BIG way!
This coming Sunday and Monday, TpT is running a 
HUGE 
Back to School Sale! 

All 20 of us Chalkies will be running sales in our own
Chalk Shops ~ AKA TpT Stores. :)

Click here to visit The Primary Chalkboard's Chalk Shops page where you can meet each of us and take a closer look at 20 fabulous first and second grade shops chalked full of back to school resources and beyond...On Sale!

Each shop will be offering up to 20% off in our own shops, so now's the time to stock up and save BIG on TpT

PLUS, be sure to enter coupon code BTS13 during checkout to save an additional 8% on your entire purchase!

So, chalk it on your calendar and join us Sunday and Monday for some back to school bliss ~ Shopping Style! 

But before you get your blissful shopping on, don't forget to enter our Back to School Bliss Giveaway {here} for your chance to win a $50 TpT Gift Certificate, $50 Erin Condren Gift and more!
One winner will be selected for each of three prizes on Saturday. Just in time to spend for the sale. 
Good luck!