Close Reading!

Howdy, ya'll! I've been working VERY hard on this pack for quite some time now, so I'm glad that I finally get to share it with the world! My students LOVE close-reading nonfiction articles, and I've been trying to get some warm-weather themes into my classroom! Seriously, this was the most annoying winter. Ever.

Anywho, without further ado, check this out!

Enjoy!

EnVision Math Journals

We use EnVision Math at my district, and I've been searching for ways to make it a little more interactive and differentiated, so I've been working on these math journals! I started with Topic 4, because that's what we're on right now, but I plan to make all of the topics as well.

*Click the picture to see it on TPT*

*Click the picture to see it on TPT*

I'm going to be using these journals during the last 10-15 minutes of class as a way to summarize the lesson and do individual checks for understanding. I'll collect the journals daily and quickly browse through to see whether or not the student comprehends that skill.

You could also use these during guided math groups as independent time! My math block isn't very long this year, so I'm not running math group rotations, but that'd be my ideal situation for sure!

Low Prep Math Games

Heyo! Hopefully you're not fighting the allergy/cold/death thing that's going around my school! I think everyone is sick right now. I feel like I swallowed a razor blade, and I've used at least a pound of tissues in the last week or so. I think I'm on the up swing, but this rainy weather we've had the last few days isn't helping. Blah.

I digress.

I've been getting into the habit of having my students play a simple math game that focuses on the skill for the day, or one that reviews a skill we previously learned that I don't want them to forget! I use this time to meet with my lower math students to reinforce the skill and it's been working out great! I wanted to share a couple of easy LOW PREP math games that you can use and adapt to meet your needs!

Today we learned about doubles facts, so once we were done with independent work, I put them into groups of 4 with a tub of dominoes. The students put all the dominoes face down, then took turns flipping over 2 at a time. They then used those numbers to make one addition sentence. If their addition sentence was correct, they got 1 point. If they could write a DOUBLE, they got 2 points. The students wrote their problems on whiteboards, and the rest of the group was responsible for checking their work. I wish I could take credit for this activity, but the idea came from one of my teammates. The kids LOVED playing this game, and were so sad when I rang the bell to clean up!!

Another game that we're hooked on and could easily be adapted to meet ANY skill (even in other subjects!) is called "4 in a Row," which is a variation on Connect 4. This day, we were learning to solve addition problems with 0, 1, and 2. I made this worksheet in Microsoft Word in literally 2 minutes. It's that easy. I made a 5x6 table and filled it with addition facts that add 0, 1, and 2. Students play this game with a partner, using counters or some other game piece that you've got lots of in 2 different colors (cubes, bingo markers, bears, etc.) If they can solve the problem, they can cover it. The goal is to get 4 in a row, so their partner is constantly trying to block them at the same time. It was SUCH a fun way to review these math facts while having a little bit of quality competition among friends! Just wait till you see how excited your kiddos get playing this game! 

Both games can easily be adapted to meet multiple skills. I'm in the process of making a "Long A 4 in a Row" since my aide is going to be out tomorrow, and a sight word version since we'll be testing our first marking period words next week. Super fun! Super easy!

The Common Core Blues

So. I'm struggling.

No.

Let me rephrase. I'm teaching better than I ever have. But it's not easy.

Let me explain. Our district uses Reading Street, which I used to love, but now it is in no way aligned to the Common Core. Last week, for example, we were supposed to read Animal Park. The focus skill was cause and effect, which is no longer in the first grade standards. I thought, oh, maybe I'll just keep the text and pick a different standard to focus on... It's technically informational, but the text is essentially "Bump bump bump. The truck goes bump. Ooh, look! A Lion!"

I decided NOT to use Reading Street. It was scary. It was liberating. It felt great.

Instead, I decided to focus on main idea and details with informational text. Our school has a license for Reading A-Z, which is fantastic. It has leveled books galore, both informational and literature. They even come with comprehension quizzes and lesson plans. I ended up finding a different book for each reading group. We read and discussed the books one day, used graphic organizers to list the main idea and supporting details from A Year of Many Firsts (these are fabulous and you need them,) then took the comprehension quiz the following day. The only thing I kept from Reading Street was the spelling/phonics, phonemic awareness, and grammar. Not that I'm even using the materials any more, but I'm trying to stick to the pacing for those things.

We use EnVision for math, which is aligned to the Core Standards, so that's been much easier...

Does your district have a series that's no longer aligned to the Common Core? How are you adapting?

Stay tuned for some upcoming posts on how I'm adapting my instruction to meet the Common Core standards and how I'm trying involving my students in planning/instruction to meet some of those "distinguished" boxes on our teacher evaluation rubric!

Learning Lessons with Molly Lou!

Hi all! Loooooong time, no update. I've got Sweeney Todd rehearsals pretty much every day of the week at this point. Free time is few and far between. As we get closer to the show opening, I'll share some pictures... It's gonna be pretty epic.

ANYWHO, I wanted to share some things we've been doing lately!

I'm sure many of you know my good friend Molly Lou Melon. She's a peach. Love her.

Anyways, my principal told me he was going to do a formal observation during reading. I do reading group, ten minute mini-lesson, reading group, ten minute mini-lesson, etc. So he said he'd come for one mini-lesson and one reading group. I read them Molly Lou Melon the day before then when he came, we focused on Common Core standard RL.1.2 (Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson). So, we went back through the story to try and figure out what Molly Lou learned about herself. I was getting "so-so" responses such as "she learned to stand tall and sing loud" and then out of the blue, one of my BOYS goes "she learned to believe in herself." *BOOM!* I could not have said it better myself. I love those moments when they REALLY bring it when you're being observed. After figuring out the lesson she learned, I really wanted to focus on details from the text that helped us realize what she learned...

Again, it was going well, then one of my little ladies said "the letter that Molly wrote to her Grandma at the end said 'you were right.'" *DING DING!*

This week in Reading Street we read Peter's Chair, which I LOVE. I wanted to take this skill and have the students review the story, looking for the lesson that Peter learned, as well as what details in the text lead them to realizing that. I had them work in pairs using a graphic organizer from this Common Core graphic organizer pack. If you don't already have it, get it. It's been a lifesaver. Lyndsey from A Year of Many Firsts, if you're reading, this pack is amazing.

I hope you're enjoying the sunshine wherever you are... It's a little chilly in PA right now, but sipping coffee with the heat on while seeing the sunshine is making me THINK it's almost summer. I'll take it.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, ya'll! I hope you had a wonderful day full of productivity and calm students! To be totally honest, my day wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be! We took our first marking period sight word test this morning... our students are responsible for reading AND spelling all the sight words. This marking period, it was only 23 words, so it wasn't too bad. The math test I gave this afternoon? That's another story... NEVER AGAIN! Live and learn, eh?

Here's some of the Halloween-ish things we've been doing in my room this week!

With the shift towards more informational texts with the Common Core, I've been trying to get as much of it in their hands as possible. Each week, I'm introducing a new informational text feature using Hello Literacy's Informational Text Features Notebook. It's fantastic. If you don't have it, run and snag it now. It's on sale. I'm not being payed to say this and she doesn't know I'm saying it because it's really just that awesome.

ANYWHO, I got this amazing pumpkins book in my batch of free books from Scholastic at the beginning of the year. Super kid friendly but still filled with loads of awesome information. Our PTO also pays for a subscription for Time For Kids, which has been super awesome. There was an issue about spiders in the November pack that just came yesterday, so I pulled that sucker out for one last "Halloween-ish" thing today.

I know I clearly didn't invent the KWL chart, but I was super impressed with the questions my kiddos have been asking. I love love love using KWL as a previewing/sumarizing strategy! Any I love how excited the kids get when I add my terrible drawings that are supposedly "the best drawings in the world." We were all crazy surprised that pumpkins can be BLUE?! We were also super creeped out to learn that spiders see and hear through the hair on their legs?! Cray cray.

Today after our math test, I had a little extra time, so I dug out Roll A Monster from The Teacher Wife's Oh So Spooky activity pack. It's filled with tons of super stuff.

Tomorrow, we're having a Halloween "party" in our room. Translation? I didn't feel like having a real party so I'm just going to play some Halloween games and give them popcorn at the end of the day. Cross your fingers. I'll let you know how it goes!

In unrelated news, 2 pet pictures... First, our guinea pig is a diva. He flips his food dish and rips off his water bottle if I don't fill them quickly enough... Ha!

Last, my dog hates the doorbell. I decided that trick-or-treat would not be his thing!

CAUTION! Hard Hats Required!

So. My district adopted EnVision math last year. I'm fairly satisfied with it, for the most part. There's only one thing I really don't like... Lesson 2-10.

I taught it last year, and it was a train wreck. I felt like I had been run over by a bus. The students looked like I was speaking German. When I saw it come up in my planning, I was determined to fix it.

Essentially, the lesson meets standard 1.OA.7, showing the meaning of the equal sign. The essential understanding for the lesson reads "The difference can be written at the beginning or end of a subtraction sentence, as long as the number or expression on each side of the equal sign are the same amount." Seriously? That's algebra. Here's what the student page looks like...

I understand the concept. I realize it is an important concept. I feel like the lesson is just a little too early for first grade. Here's what I came up with... Remember those little colored white boards I found in the Target Dollar Spot? Since I only have a few of them, I haven't yet realized their full potential. Until today, at least.

I spent about 10 minutes reviewing how to make "NORMAL" addition and subtraction problems with the information from a part-part-whole mat. I explained HEAVILY that on our boards, the yellow board was the whole, and that the green boards were the parts.

That's when I blew their minds. I put on my trusty hard hat, since we were "destroying" math problems today. I picked up the difference and the equal sign and moved them to the front of the problem. Then I put them back. Then I put them on the front again. Then I put them back again. Then I put them on the front again. I needed wanted my little firsties to totally understand WHY the problems still worked with the answer at the front.

Here's one of my little guys (all dressed up for picture day) filling in the blanks BY HIMSELF. Last year, when I taught this lesson, there was no independent practice. NONE. Today, I feel like I still blew my kids' minds, but at least they figured out what I was talking about.

I think it REALLY helped for them to see the whole as a different color. Tomorrow, there will be MUCH reviewing, and I think I'll swap the yellow board out for another green one to see if they can still plop those numbers into the right place!!

Does your math series teach this standard in a similar way? How do you teach it without completely losing your first graders??

Common Core "I Can" Statements

Today being my first official day without school, I decided to get some work done on the computer... I've heard buzz of people wanting "I Can" statements for the Common Core standards, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I knew it would take some time, but I completely underestimated how many stinking standards we have for first grade! 100+ slides later, I'm done with my Common Core "I Can" Statements for First Grade.

It'll be on sale in my TpT store until Thursday... Check it out!!

Don't forget about my Classroom Set-up Pack giveaway!  The winner will have their choice of the stripe set or the chevron set.