On Your Mark! Get Set!

Hello Everyone!!
Well, about a week and a half before teachers report for the new year!  I got to meet with my sweet team this past week, and I just know it's going to be a good year!!!  It makes a huge difference when the people you work with are not just your co-workers, they are some of your best friends!  I love that we can trust each other for support and encouragement.  We trust that each will do the right thing for kids. We celebrate life events and hold each other up when it gets tough.  I feel so blessed to have all of them in my life!! Thank you, girls, for being so awesome!!!
I also feel blessed to be able to share so much with you all via this little blog.  I get so many e-mails from teachers from all over the world with thoughts about all that I share. I truly feel as though this blog is a bit like the food blogs where cooks, bakers, and chefs share their favorite recipes with anyone who wants to try them.  They share recipes that have been successful for them.  I share ideas that have worked for me in my classroom. I love hearing that they have worked for you and your students as well! Thank for letting me know!
As I gear up, I always like to clean up some of my printables. I did redo my lesson plan template because we have a bit of a different schedule for this coming year.  
Here's a pic of what it looks like now.  It is completely editable.  I copy and punch holes so that the two pages can lay open and side by side in a binder.  Some people like to type in plans, but I just handwrite  on this template.  

If you need an editable lesson plan template

CLICK HERE!!! :)

Another thing I worked a little on were my beginning of the year quick forms.  I like to have out a couple of notes and questionnaires at meet the teacher night for parents to fill out.  these are handy ways to get to know your kids and their families and have info at your fingertips. 

Here are a couple of pics from the mini pack.

The pack also includes a schedule, a wish list, and a couple of other things.

If you are interested:

SIMPLY CLICK HERE!!! IT'S FREE! 

The next thing I want to share is a little packet of fun for the kids to work on a bit at a time during the first week of school.

The first couple of days are filled with calming fears, gathering information, sorting supplies, talking to hovering parents, and so many teacher attention grabbing issues, sometimes you just need something for the kids to work on independently.  The only supplies the kids need for this packet are crayons and pencils! You will learn a ton about your new kids as they make their way through!  Win Win!!

Here are a few pics.

If you are in need of a way to get to know your kids, This packet is a CLICK away!!  

You will just pick out the pages you want, copy and staple in a packet form, and have them ready!! 

The last thing I'm sharing today is a math notebook unit.  This unit is almost 80 pages of printables for you to pick and choose from to put together an interactive math experience for your kids.  We have our kids work in their math notebooks every day. The notebook includes calendar pages, progressive number of the day pages, day tracking pages, weather, math talk, problem solving, vocabulary, and manipulatives. We guide our kids through the pages at first, but after a few weeks, they are able to do it all on their own. It takes about 15 minutes. This process has proven to be something that has helped kids gain confidence and comfort in discovering the beauty in math!

Here are a few pics!

17 different progressive number of the day pages from which to choose. This one is for the beginning of the year. The next one is for the end of the year!

There is another page with the rest of the 180 on it.

We print off all the pages we need to start the year, and put them in a 3 ring binder.  We add a new number of the day page every day. The different sections of the notebook are separated with paper dividers.  Sometimes the binder gets so full, I have to take out some of the number of the day pages, but in general they stay in there so kids can refer back to see patterns.

If you think you might want to try this

JUST CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE PRINTABLE UNIT!!!

IF YOU HAVE USED THIS MATH NOTEBOOK BEFORE,  GO AHEAD AND DOWNLOAD AGAIN AS I HAVE ADDED SOME NEW STUFF!

WOW!!! This turned out to be a long post!!  Thanks for hanging with me!  I hope you gained some things you might want to try! By posting all of this, I am getting excited to put it all into play! Bring on the new firsties!!!

I do have a few more things to re-organize and clean up, so I'll be back soon to show you! If you have any questions about anything, please don't hesitate to holler at me! Have a great last few days of your Summerbration!!  I know I will!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Joyfully!

Nancy

firstgradewow@gmail.com

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SUPER SENTENCES! (Mentor Sentences, Sentence Imitating), a little math fun and a lesson plan template!

Hello Everyone!!
This post is a mix of writing, math, and a downloadable editable lesson plan template.So hold on tight and stay with me!!

The case for using mentor sentences or sentence imitating begins with the premise that students are more motivated to organize sentence construction through the use of well crafted sentences from books we read rather than teaching a grammar lesson and using a “find the mistake” type activity.    Mentor sentences serve as examples for students of what good writing is all about.  Mentor sentences can help students identify all those elements of writing you are working on. In the primary grades, they might highlight good nouns, verbs, verb usage, capitalization, punctuation, etc.  Kids can also see how adjectives,adverbs, and other parts of speech are used effectively. In my first grade classroom, I have adopted a mentor sentence component to my writers workshop time.  Before I begin my workshop mini lesson and modeling, we write our “Super Sentence!”

*I have a sentence written on sentence strip displayed in the front of the classroom. The sentence comes from a book we have been reading that might have specific examples of skills we might be working on that week.

*We read and discuss the sentence, including conversation about those specifics. “What are some things you notice about the sentence?” “What kinds of things can we identify?”

*Students write the entire sentence, or imitate the sentence in a notebook. I check it over for correct imitation. Kids highlight specific focus words, word parts, or punctuation marks.

*The next day, I underline the word or a part of the sentence I want them to  change or revise to begin making the sentence their own.  Students write the sentence with their choice word in their notebooks directly under the original sentence from yesterday.

*The next day I choose another part of the sentence for the students to revise, making the sentence even more their own.

*Finally, students revise one more thing and write the sentence one more time. By this time the sentence is almost completely their own. They can change one of the other words, add some words, or change the type of sentence.

Each day, the “Super Sentence” activity takes only about 5-10 minutes.  

If you would like a quick, free, downloadable copy of this little unit, CLICK HERE!!!

Now on to a little math fun from last week.  we have been working hard on expanded notation, and finding patterns in our observations of that type of numeration and number sense.  Last week I wanted a fun way for the kids to show what they have learned.  I found some of the paint chip cards with the little windows in them.  I cut some plain white copy paper the same size as the paint chips.  The kids had to pick a two digit number and write it out in expanded notation to show through the windows. They also had to show what each addend of the expanded form meant. They each did about 5 or six pages and then we punched holes and added a brass fastener.  The flip book became a quick, fun, formative assessment of their grasp of expanded notation!  

Great job, guys!!!

Now, finally, on to the lesson plan template.  I get requests almost daily for my editable lesson plan template.  I shared it a couple of years ago. I think I had the template saved in a storage system that has since gone to a pricey membership system.  I am so sorry about that. I have since loaded it into my googledocs file and have it for you to download for free. It shows you how my day is organized, but it also gives you total freedom to edit to fit your schedule.  I simply print off the year's worth, punch holes, and keep it all in a binder.  I fill in the specs by handwriting them, but you could certainly store it all on your computer and fill in your own specs, because it is just a word doc.

If you are at all interested in this 3 page editable lesson plan template, CLICK HERE!!! :)

Hope this post gives you some ideas for your week coming up.  Please holler if you need anything else!!!  Have a great rest of the weekend!!

 Joyfully!

Nancy

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