It's Been a Year!

Well, I clearly fell off the blogging bandwagon! But here I am, back at it again. I was just perusing some teaching blogs (namely Top Dog Teaching), which is something I used to do for inspiration all the time.

When I returned to work after having a baby (who is almost 2 already...gasp!), life was pretty  much just a juggling act and I kind of lost the energy and the time to do fun things like read teaching blogs. But lately I'm feeling inspired to explore other teachers' classrooms via Instagram & blogs and that got me thinking about my own blog!

Today at school, I took a few pictures around my room and thought I would share them for fun. I didn't take any wide shots of the room as a whole, but here are some specific spots around the room. This year I have 24 first graders- 12 girls & 12 boys.

Math Workshop Steps 

Math Tubs & Math Materials Below

Math Tub "Parking Spots"

Math Game Organization 

Leveled Library 

Student Book Boxes 

"Look Books" (Students select books by interest, rather than level)

"Safe Place"- A place students can regroup if they are upset 

Classroom Promise 

Kindness Wall & Friends and Family Board

Birthday Board & Classroom Jobs 

Hopefully I will check back in before another year goes by! I hope everyone is having a great school year!

Snow Day!

It's a snow day here in Michigan and I couldn't be happier. We should probably start every week with a snow day! :)

Lately I have been really into creating packs to support my writing workshop. I made a how-to books pack and just finished an all-about nonfiction writing unit, which I am really excited to use in my classroom. You can check them out in my TPT store here and here if you're interested! The how-to books pack really helped me teach this unit in a clear, concise way for my firsties! Check it out and let me know how you like it!

I also just finished up a fun activity pack for Valentine's Day! :)

Long ago, I posted some pictures of my new classroom before I had moved anything in. My plan was to post some finished pictures before school started. That definitely did not happen. Funny how busy things get!

Here's a teensy glimpse into my classroom:

Friends & Family Board and Kindness Recordings

Word Wall, Birthdays, and Jobs Board

Our Classroom Promise

I personally love the little faces around our Classroom Promise. What's your favorite part of your room?

Gingerbread Writing

Wow, this school year has been a whirlwind! I don't think I've ever felt a school year fly by as fast as this one has. It probably has something to do with me juggling a longer commute, a baby, and the growing list of responsibilities that teachers now have!

Today while my little one was  napping, I snuck in some TPT project time and created a Gingerbread Writing Story Writing Pack. Next week, my class will be reading gingerbread stories and comparing and contrasting the story elements. Then my kiddos will be creating their own gingerbread story.

If you'd like to purchase the gingerbread pack, check it out in my TPT store. Enjoy your last couple of weeks before winter vacation!

Gingerbread Story Writing Pack

Classroom Progress

Last week I went into my new classroom to get some things done. I know, I know...a lot of you may be thinking, "It's summer...don't go into school! Enjoy the last few weeks off!"  Part of me feels like that too, but the other part feels way less anxious knowing that I have gotten a few things completed off my giant to-do list!

My main goals were to move my things into the new room and get them mostly put away, begin thinking about classroom set-up, and to get the bulletin boards done. While simultaneously trying to entertain my baby, I got most of these things done!

You'll just have to believe me when I say that the above picture documents progress. I know it looks like a mess!

 I love how the bulletin boards turned out! I'll have to take more pictures the next time I go in.

From home, I also worked on finishing up a pacing guide to keep me organized this year. It'll be a very handy tool for me to keep long-term planning in mind.  It looks a little something like this:

This week I plan to go in a few times to get some more projects done including:

* Organizing my classroom library
* Setting up guided math/reading/writing/lesson plan binders
* Finishing back to school letter to parents

Little by little, it will all get done. I hope! :)

What's on your to-do list for back to school?

Gearing Up For the New School Year!

This summer is flying by and my thoughts are starting to turn towards the classroom. This year I will be back in my own first grade classroom. I'm excited for inspiration to start making new resources for my room!

The other day, I whipped up a new Word Wall set for my room, which I will share in a moment. This year my "theme" is going to be Turquoise and Black with a splash of chevron. I'm not really into super theme-y things like the jungle or the ocean, for example, but I like everything to be cohesive with colors. I bought black fadeless paper for all the bulletin boards. Not the greatest iPhone pic ever, but here is the border I will be using throughout the room:

Decorating my room is just one of the ways I get myself excited for a new year. After all, my classroom will be my home away from home for the entire school year! This year I will be in a new classroom than the year before. The rooms are pretty tiny. The school was built in the 1920s, afterall all! I've been pinning classroom organization pictures like crazy to help  me think through the room set-up. I can't wait to get in there and start setting up!

Here are some before pictures of the room as it currently looks from when I stopped into school a few weeks ago. The rooms are being deep cleaned during July and then I will probably start spending a couple of hours each day in the room when August rolls around. 

This year my room looks out onto the playground. Which is fun...but also a little distracting for the kiddos! We'll see how it goes! :)

Now, onto the word wall set that I created...

Turquoise to match my borders! :) The set includes letter headers A-Z with clipart and also without. All 220 Dolch words are also included. If you want to grab this set, visit my TPT store! :) 

Word Wall Set at the Firsties Are Fantastic TPT store

How are you gearing up for the '14-'15 school year?

Firsties Are STILL Fantastic...

even though I have been sorely neglecting this poor little blog! Let's just say that it has been a busy year! I was all ready to gear up for another year in the classroom and my plans changed quite a bit. Instead of having my own classroom this year, my principal asked me to be a "floater" teacher who offers support to students in the first grade and 1/2 multiage classrooms in our school this year.

At first, I hesitated. Not having my own classroom!? What would my day look like!? Where would I put all my stuff!? But then I sat down and thought about it for about 5 minutes and decided that this would be awesome to try out. It's been a great learning experience working with so many students, learning to be flexible, and getting to collaborate with so many teachers this year. I don't know what next year will look like for me, but I'm enjoying this role in the meantime.

Besides a change in my normal role at work, I also got pregnant and am now 33 weeks preggo!

We also moved into a new house at the beginning of December! So I have had a lot going on, which means that I have spent less time creating things for TPT, looking at blogs, and blogging myself.

However, that does not mean I haven't been making some fun things to share with teachers at school and I finally have some time to share them with you, too!

I just posted a Roll & Cover game for helping students practice adding 3 numbers. There are 4 game boards, which you could use during centers or math game time in your classroom.

Just click on the link to check this out in my TPT store. :) 

Arctic Roll & Cover {Add 3 Numbers}

Hopefully I will have some time to post the Place Value Memory game that I made for my team in the near future.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Summer is Winding Down...

I'm sad to say that summer is coming to a close! I spent the last three days at a reading professional development with the coauthors of "Catching Readers Before They Fall", Pat Johnson and Katie Keier.  I have to say, it got me pumped to get back to work in my classroom.

At the beginning of last year, I was coming into a new district, new school, new grade level. I was moving all my old classroom stuff into my new classroom and I have to say, many things got shoved into the closet. I also "inherited" a lot of OLD curriculum materials from other teachers in the building. Not knowing exactly what I would be needing, I accepted way too much! 

I am planning to get back into my classroom next week to get crackin'. One of the first things I want to do is go through and get rid of anything that I don't need. I have a great walk in closet in my room and the space is just not being used well right now. 

I also want to go through my filing cabinet and purge anything I don't need. I really need to set up a better system for filing because I ended up with too many piles last year. "A place for everything and everything in its place" will be my motto this year! I can't handle working in a cluttered space, especially since my room is small to begin with.

I am also going to get my guided reading and guided math binders set up for the new school year. The other big project is going to be tackling my classroom library. Last year, I didn't put out very many of my own books because I didn't have all of them labeled. I really want to get all my books labeled, as well as pulling a good amount of mentor texts to use for workshop throughout the year. 

Lots to do! I'll post some classroom pictures once I get back in there!

Buzzin' Through the Year: A Yearlong Portfolio!

I don't know about you, but it's around this time every year that I really start thinking about changes to make and new things to try out for the next school year. With parent-teacher conferences coming up this week, I have really been thinking about how I have been documenting student growth this year. Although I have kept student portfolios this year, I have not loved the format...this gave me the idea to create my own portfolios.

I'm in love with the bee theme...I think it's so cute! I hope this portfolio will help you get organized and give you a tangible picture of your students' growth, which you can share with parents!

Included in this portfolio:

*Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd Grade Portfolio Covers

*Dividers for each section of the portfolio

* Writing Samples for each quarter {4 types of paper to choose from}

* Self-Portraits for each month

* Self-Report Cards for each quarter

* Number Writing for each quarter {3 levels to choose from}

* Letter Writing for each quarter

* Sentence Dictation Assessment {Track progress over 4 quarters}

*Phonemic Awareness Assessment {Track progress over 4 quarters}

 Includes rhyme choice, rhyme supply, onset & rime, phoneme blending, and phoneme segmentation

I can't wait to use this portfolio for student-led conferences next year!

Get Buzzin' Through the Year: A Yearlong Portfolio! at my Teachers Pay Teachers Store

Spring is Almost Here!

It's 60 degrees in Michigan today and that makes for a happy heart!  I just finished up a new game for Teachers Pay Teachers and now I'm headed outside to enjoy the sunshine!

Need a new game for your kiddos to practice their sight words? Grab the Busy Bee Sight Word Race for your centers this week!

Students will race to get their bumblebee to the beehive first, while practicing their sight words along the way! Primer, 1st, and 2nd grade word cards are included! Just click on the link below to head to my TPT store:

Get the Busy Bee Sight Word Race!

Have a great day and enjoy the nice weather!

Have you used Donors Choose?

I want to take a moment to sing the praises of the website Donors Choose! I'm sure most of you are familiar with this amazing website, but if not then you definitely need to check it out. I have had SEVEN projects funded on this site!

I have received an LCD projector, a Lakeshore classroom carpet, a leveled library from Lakeshore, toys and fine motor activities from Lakeshore, an iPod listening center docking station and headphones, an amazing easel, and chair pockets!

Lakeshore rug & Easel
(beginning of the year
before room was set up!)

Leveled Library in Blue Containers on Counter

My latest project was the chair pockets, which just arrived on Monday. 

All you have to do once your project has been funded is write a short thank you letter (which gets posted to the Donors Choose website), post 6 pictures of students using the new materials (you need to get written permission from parents for students to be in the pictures- the permission slip is provided on the website), and in most cases, send student made thank you cards to the donors (the kids love making these).

Donors Choose often has promotions going on in which an organization will match donations if you use a code, so make sure to watch out for these. The projects that have been funded the most quickly for me have been the ones in which donations were matched. I once had a project funded within the week. The chair pockets were funded through a $25 Donors Choose gift card and from a random donor who donated over $300!

So what have you been hankering to get for your classroom? Get out there and write a project request and maybe someone will donate it to your classroom!

Just Right Books

One of the most important parts of Reading Workshop is getting "just right" books into the hands of the kiddos! At my school, we use Fountas & Pinnell to find the independent and instructional levels of each child.

At the beginning of the school year, the kids learn a lot about what good fit books should be like for them to read. Once assessments are finished, it is great to give them a "shopping list" to steer them in the right direction towards those good fit books.

At the Reading Workshop training that I have been attending throughout this school year, they suggest allowing students to pick a couple of easy, several just right, and a couple of challenge books to keep in their book box throughout the week.

To help the kids keep track, I tape a current shopping list on the inside of their book boxes. This helps them remember  what to shop for each week.

Click here to get the book shopping list template!

Polar Bears Galore

We have been reading and learning about polar bears this month and many of our center activities have been polar bear themed. It was only fitting that we made polar bears last Friday.

This project was super easy and fast. The firsties were so excited to put them up on their lockers.

For the project, I copied the Polar Bear template on white card stock. I copied the Scarf & Hat template on different colors of construction paper for the kids to pick from.


Here was my example for the kids:

Here are some of the kiddos' examples:

Polar Bear Template

Hat & Scarf Template

Waddling Into Winter...

Before winter break, we made a penguin project that was quick, easy, and fun. I like to make bulletin board displays for the hallway that I can leave up for a long time. Seasonal is the best way to go!

Looking around Pinterest, I came across this classroom door that I thought was super cute. I had penguin tracers from teaching kindergarten last year. Making penguins was a great way to end a Friday afternoon with my kiddos. They love doing projects!

Although the red background was not ideal, I didn't feel like switching it out. Oh well! For the snow, I bought a roll of quilt batting that could easily cutout and staple up on the board. The snowflakes and letters were all made using a die cut machine. I printed the students' names on lablels in a cute font. Super simple!

Get Penguin Template

How-to Books

My class just began working on how-to books today. First, I modeled making an authority list of things I know how to do. Then the kids brainstormed their own ideas with their writing partners. I actually learned a lot about my kids as I listened in on their conversations. I had no idea that one of my students had experience feeding horses and another knows how to snorkel. Interesting stuff!

After the kids had a chance to talk it out with their partner, they went off to write their own authority lists. I used the "Top Ten" list paper from Daily 5 for their authority lists.

We will look at many examples of how-to books and the kids will pick one topic to write about. We haven't gotten there yet, but I wanted to share the how-to book paper that we will be using in case anyone else out their is working on the same things right now!

On the front cover, the students draw  and label pictures of the materials needed to complete there how-to. On the next page, the students draw a sketch of each step of their how-to in the picture box, number the step in the little box, and write a description of their how-to in order. Revisiting transition words is a must-do for this writing project!

Click on the link below to grab this paper:

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How-to Paper

Be a Place Value Super Hero Bundle!

I just finished a fun bundle of place value activities. I can't wait to use them in my own classroom!


In the bundle, you will get:

* Place Value Mat with Tens & Ones
* Place Value Mat with Ones, Tens, & Hundreds
* Place Value Memory with:
{Number cards 1-100}
{Base 10 Cards 1-100}
* 7 pages of Place Value Cut & Paste
* 4 Pages of Which is Bigger?
* 4 Pages of How Many Tens & Ones?
* Make 10 Game
* 4 Pages of Addition Story Problems with Ten
Frames













Check out my TPT store to grab so you can have a classroom full of Place Value Super Heroes!

Place Value Super Heroes Bundle

Math Mats Pack!

I just finished making a pack of math mats, which is only $1 on my TPT store! You'll find all the mats needed to make hands-on learning in your classroom possible. In the pack you'll find:

* 2 Hundreds Charts: {1-100} and {1-120}

* 2 Place Value Mats: {Tens & Ones} and {Hundreds, Tens, & Ones}

* Blank Ten Frames for Numbers to 10

* Blank Ten Frames for Numbers to 20

* 2 Part-Part- Whole Mats

* Blank Fact Family Triangle 

Grab the Math Mats Pack!