Hands-on Ways to Practice Essential Skills

I have been working on several projects in my classroom..... so that is one explanation for me being MIA.  First project was getting math stations rolling....it only took me 9 weeks to figure out how to get them going in my room with limited time and resources....I only have 20 min/3 times per week.  Sheeeeesh! 
So I decided to do 6 stations with 3-4 kids/group: 
[1] Overhead Station~review of past units by using familiar materials and transparencies.  Students take turns at playing teacher while using the overhead to "teach" the rest of their group. 
[2] Games~review math skills with the games that were already taught whole group (from the math series + others I have added). 

[3] Time Me~Work on math fluency based on mClass testing.  Students time eachother on reading numbers 1-100, missing number (sets of 3 numbers with 1 number missing), and determining numbers that are greater (box with 2 numbers-chooses the largest number).  Then they try to beat their own time the next round.

[4] Hands-on Fun~use manipulatives that we have used/learned about in a free-time manne making patterns, designing pictures, building, etc.

[5] Math Facts~practice math facts in various ways: flashcards, wrap-ups, puzzles, power towers, tic tac toe, Roll Say Keep, and other games. 

[6] Pocket Chart~matching numbers to number words, matching vocab words to their definition or picture, memory game of double facts and their sums, doubles rap

Of course this will free me up to do some sort of math interventions with the lower kids, but also try to hit the higher kids with some enrichment.  Now that we are rolling I can't wait to see how they work....the kiddos seem excited so I am too!

Another project was coming up with some ways to practice some essential skills in a fun, but easy way.  So I made a jungle themed tic tac toe board to use for vocabulary practice, math fact practice, spelling practice and sight word practice.  I also made a jungle themed Roll, Say, Keep board to practice as well.  I just made 2 sets of the words and facts that I wanted my kiddos to practice, 1 for each game.  These are great for stations and small groups.  (I laminated some of the mats and they are slightly curled up in the picture....I will probably re-laminate after putting them on cardstock so they lay flat.)

Tic Tac Toe math facts

Tic Tac Toe vocab words/definitions

Roll, Say, Keep mat

Tic Tac Toe sight words
I put this one in a clear, plastic 8x10
stand up frame 

Vocabulary sheet

We are responsible for teaching our kiddos 20 "Big Dog" academic vocabulary words per year.  This is not an easy task to keep interesting and fun to learn, as well as to teach.  We use a vocabulary sheet/chart for weekly work.  So I decided to use the cards I made for the above mentioned games and put them on index cards.  I then put them on an o-ring to keep them together.  They can easily be flipped through to review, but also easy to take off the ring to practice matching or play memory.  The thought is for the kiddos to make their own set and add to as we learn more words.

 

So, as you can see.... I have been busy working.

It's Been Awhile....

So it's been awhile since I have been able to blog...busy weekends!  Last weekend I cheered my husband on as he ran a marathon in Milwaukee.  It was a rough one....but he finished!!  I love running but not sure if I could ever run 26.2 miles!!  This weekend was spent at the high school Friday night football game, apple and pumpkin picking at the orchard and taking care of a sick kiddo! 

Lots to share......

First off, I did manage to finish a word family activity that I've wanted to put together since the summer.  I thought I'd better get it done because it ties in with what we have been working on in our phonics program....rhyming words.  I got a bunch of Altoids containers, put a word family on a sticky note on the lid, and put a small handful of magnet letters inside. 



Word Family tins

I made a handout for the students to write down their words.  We have been talking a lot about real words and make believe words so that is what I focused my handout on.  Here is the picture of the handout.  If you are interested, leave your email in the comments, as soon as I get my Scrappindoodles license, I will send you a copy!

 I also wanted to share my Jungle books that I use daily in my classroom.  I absolutely love having them because they are a great go-to for students when they get done early, as well as a tool that we use throughout the day. 

 



Jungle Binder



letter tiles for word work

 

handwriting sheets



phonics keyword "cheat" sheet



more phonics "cheat" sheets



vocabulary work



poetry to use for fluency practice





 

There is also notebook paper at the front of the binder that we use for math work-like extra story problems or writing about what we did or learned in math.  this is still a work in progress since I am still getting use to the new math program.  On the back of the binder is a sheet of math number words for the students to use as well....forgot the picture.

If you are still hanging on for this long blog post...here is an apple activity that we worked on last week.  We have been learning about apples...tis the season!   This week we learned about Johnny Appleseed, how apple trees grow, some of the names of the apples and the parts of the apple. One way we showed what we learned was labeling the parts of the apple in this craftivity.



Hopefully there will be more apple things to come!  We have a busy week wrapping up our study of apples (which includes homemade applesauce and other yummy things) and get report card testing done!  And it totally does not help that I will be home tomorrow with my sick kiddo!

Well, back to work on another long overdue project....graphic organizers for reading that go along with our ever-so-lovely reading program.

There's a Whole Lotta {quiet} Shaking Goin' On!

We shook and we spilled....and boy was it quiet!  {Loved} this activity with my kiddos.  Because of Melissa's post (see my previous post for the link) about the noise level, I decided to take some precautions because I knew we would be doing this activity for quite awhile finding sums of 7, 8 AND 9.  I got a set of foam can coolers to use as our "Spill Cups" and cut some cupboard liners to use as our "Spill Mats."  It worked perfect! 

I am actually looking forward to doing this again tomorrow to find sums of 10, 11, and 12.....and so are my kiddos! 

We worked whole group today on recording our answers, so tomorrow we add the handouts!  Can't wait!

More Rain=A Blog Hopping Lazy Sunday with Great Finds

Crazy that I am doing 2 posts in one weekend!  It's raining again so I get some more computer time because I am feeling the laziness!  So I just found 2 great things that I wanted to share.

First off I found this great freebie from What the Teacher Wants that I can't wait to use and incorporate into my stations.

I also came across a post that goes right along with what we are doing in math....but it puts more of a game spin to it. This is from F is for First Grade.  Click on the picture to see the original post. 

We used the counters on Friday and were making sums of 4,5,6.  I have to be honest that by the end of the lesson I couldn't get them out to recess fast enough because I was ready to pull my hair out!  So I love the idea of "Shake and Spill" so much that I created these handouts to use next week as we find sums of 7, 8, 9 and yet another lesson on sums of 10, 11, 12.  The first 2 pages are for sums of 6 and more.  The second 2 pages are for the smaller sums.  Click on the picture to grab your copy!  Thanks for the idea Melissa!

Well, time to get moving!  Hope everyone is enjoying a relaxing weekend!

**UPDATED Soggy Saturday=Lots of Checks on my To-Do List

**UPDATED POST (see below)

After a very wet soccer game this morning, I headed into school to work on my loooong to-do list.  I am proud to say that I got a lot accomplished....finally!  So here I am sharing what I have been working on.

First on  the list...change  my bulletin board.  We just finished week 6 and I have had the same bulletin board up since day 2.  I am trying something new so I can easily change out projects and not only display art projects but other academic work.  I hotglued clothespins to a piece of cardboard and stapled them on the wall near my vines.  I then added some leaves on top of the clothespins to mask them a bit.  I was trying to come up with a catchy saying to keep up all year, but I am not sure.  "Treemendous Work" ?!



Before



After



Next on the list...organize myself for parent helpers and interventions.  So I put together a file box with student names where I can easily put work to be corrected with parents, flashcards or any other things that my students need help with.  There are directions on the lid as well as a ziploc bag of materials and a notebook to keep track of the help given.  The nice thing is...I can use it too when I get a few extra minutes (LOL)!


 **I just posted some more information on my kit, as well as some great {FREEBIES} to use to help get/stay organized when it comes to interventions.  Just click on the word {FREEBIES.}

My "Intervention Kit"



Intervention Instructions



Wanted: Poetry Station.  So I finally figured out how to get this station going.  We have been working on poetry almost since day 1 for fluency purposes.  I decided to carry them over to my new poetry station.  Space is limited in the classroom so I had to get a bit creative.  It is located on the inside of our classroom closet door.  To keep it organized I clipped the sentence strips together with a binder clip as well as the title of the poem on the outside.  Then I could hang the poems up on the closet wall (with the use of a pushpin).  I put all of the poems we have worked on in a binder and put that in a tray, also attached to the wall with pushpins.  I also made some highlighter pieces to use to highlight rhyming words in the pocket chart.These are in a baggie in the tray.  So when students go to poetry station they can: (a) read poems in the binder (b) arrange poems in the pocket chart (c) highlight the rhyming words.  We just started talking about visualizing as well so I will add some new poems to read then draw a picture of their mental images.  Whew!  That was alot....here are a few pics.



Inside the closet



Highlighter transparency



On the door





I also put up a Boggle board for my stations and my new agenda slips that include pics and times for my firsties that kept asking "is it time for....?"and "what does that say?"



*Pinterest inspired
Free letters available at my Teachers Notebook store

  

Love my new agenda cards!



More organization complete....overhead letter tiles are organized and ready to be used thanks to Pinterest!  Also made a file tub for graded papers throughout the week.  That way on Fridays when I work on my students' weekly reports all their week's work is ready to go!

Ice cube trays for my overhead tiles

As I grade papers, they get filed in student files to go home Friday!

I am exhausted, not only from the work I did today but from this long post!  I am hoping this makes up for the lack of blogging since school started.  Now....time to relax and enjoy the rest my weekend!

Great Find!

So I hit the dollar bins at Target at the right time because I picked up some foam blocks for 50% off.   I decided to use them in my ABC/Word station to build words.  I used a silver sharpie (*love) and wrote the alphabet on them, using the front and back to get a bigger variety of letters rather than use more blocks.  Not only can they be used to build words, but they can be used to practice abc order.

Still looking for new, hands-on fun abc/word activities.  What do you have at your ABC/Word station?

Literacy Workstation "I Can" Task Cards

So I guess it's been awhile since I last checked in, but of course life got busy!  We just started workstations last week after 2 weeks of learning the procedures and activities.  For the most part my kiddos did good.  Ocassionally they forgot what they were supposed to do so I wanted to get my "I can" list down on paper.  So I sat down yesterday and began to make them with picture clues for my lower readers.  After I was almost done I had a late "aha!" moment.  I was thinking about how long it was taking for me to find the right pic/clipart to match and how I would have to do this again in a few weeks after adding different activities....not very appealing.  So I decided to make task cards instead that way I can add/remove cards as needed AND (here's the big one...) be able to reuse year after year.  I know I am not the first one to think of this....I just forgot that this was a choice I could make.  I did look online for premade task cards but couldn't find anything that matched what I wanted...well that and I didn't want to pay over $5.  So here they are!  

                                                   

"I Can" task cards

Mind you...they are a work in progress.  These are what I am using right now but will add tasks as we go along.  I have 3 tasks for Buddy Reading, Library, Overhead, ABC/Word, Phonics, Listening, Big Book and Pocket Chart.  I am selling it for $2.50 right now and will add to it through the year and send out update notices as I go for those who purchase.  By the end of the year I should have 8+ tasks for each station.  I will be adding poetry, writing, and fluency in the next month as well.  So, check them out at my store.  If you have suggestions of tasks to add and/or a station, please comment and let me know!