Adjectives & Pete

Pete the Cat is so much fun for my Firsties!  They love him...almost as much as I do!  But, I have managed to change this board out a few times this year.  Now, we are using Pete to learn about adjectives.  The students got to write out something creative that Pete could step into.  I got interesting answers like peanut butter, raspberries, purple paint cans, watermelons, feathers, red, paint, and melted chocolate. I love seeing them write their sentences, but the pictures are soooooo cute!

100 Day Project

 A few weeks ago, we celebrated our 100 Days of School with lots of fun little activities.  But, this was one of our favorites.  I found this on Pinterest, of course.  I just had my Firsties to make something creative with the numbers 1, 0, and 0.  The picture above is a Monster Truck.

 A Butterfly

 Pete the Cat having a dream

 a happy face

 a giraffe

 My purple and gray elephant

 A baby with a rattle

 a pair of glasses

a puppy dog

 

These were so much fun!  

Third Time Is a Charm

 I have changed my stations...AGAIN...for the 3rd time!  I thought I had a great way to do them last year at the first of the year, but then I found a better way.  So, I started this year with my new, improved way only to find a much better way to do stations that I just started last week.  I LOVE this arrangement.  I did have stations on my SmartBoard, but I love using my pocket chart instead.  I have groups of two students (which honestly is the only way to do stations).  My room is so much more orderly and calm with only one switch each day, and it is so much easier on me to only come up with five main stations each week.  I honestly feel like my station ideas are so much better, too.  I also figured out that most of my stations could be categorized into Word Work, Time 4 Writing, or Skill.  This also has saved me tons of time!

 So, every student will go to the Time 4 Writing Station once a week (pictured above and below.)  Each station has a label on the basket where they can find their weekly assignments and they also have a clear picture frame to assure the students they are in the right place.  Of course, all of these match the card on the station chart.

 I Love this "Writing Eye" stuff that I got from somewhere on Pinterest.  I am pretty sure I put it on one of my boards if you want it, too.  I love this little chick and her rules.  I am going to make cards that go under each example to allow the children to make goals for themselves and once they reach them- they can stick their name on the card.  I also have little laminated cards with all of the punctuation and their usage if the students need them when they are writing.  There is also a ton of word cards for them to use which have picture words, reading words, basic words, story words...you name it!

 Word Work is another station which can be so diverse from week to week.

 Then, there is the Skill Station which I tell my students always requires a lot of thinking. 

 This is one of the Skill activities- putting Long e words in alphabetical order.  Of course, it also has all of the names of their classmates who have Long e sounds in their names.  Always get their special names in!

 Fancy Nancy is taking care of the Computer Station...

 The sign lets them know what they can and cannot do each week. 

 Listening Station, of course, is always an easy station because it is so quiet.  But, I really need to find a battery tree in my backyard.  They are so expensive!

And of course, my favorite time is when they read with me!  I have to make sure to get my basket which has my crown in it.  Otherwise, they just cannot remember that I am not to be disturbed, since I am royalty and all!  It is so difficult for Firsties to not interrupt during station time--but my crown does the trick.  Even when they are walking toward me, once they notice the plastic purple headpiece- they quickly turn around and head right back to their station.  Too cute! 

So, hopefully, this change will stay!  I am all about trying new things, but I just want to figure out the best way to do stations and keep it the same SO it works the best for my students.  I do love this, and they all have told me that they definitely approve of the new station arrangements!

Aimee the Bee

 We have been learning about the Long E sound, and we have been learning about Honey Bees.  My students had so much fun learning about bees.  Firsties never fail to amaze me!  They loved telling me all about bees.  So, first they met Aimee at the beginning of the week.  She told them all about her favorite things which all have long e sounds in them.  Then, we read our story for the week.

 After learning all about the different types of bees, they created their own charts which told about the jobs of the bees.  I thought these were really Bee-utiful!

After that, we had some station activities that included sorting the Bees which had Long e words on them, writing sentences about Aimee the Bee and her favorite things, a venn diagram where we compare and contrast two types of bees, and a writing assignment where they wrote a summary of the information they had learned (example above- which is my daughter's work.)  Learning about Bees was so much fun!

Word Work Stations

Before I even start, I just have to say that I have a serious love for colored index cards and Avery labels.   With that said, I can tell you about these stations that my Firsties enjoy.

 I really LOVE Word Work Stations!  I am amazed at how much my students learn from these.  The first station (pictured above) was for Cause and Effect.  It was just a simple way for them to make up the Cause that went with the Effect.  Plus, it was good practice for writing, writing sentences correctly and reading them to make sure they made sense.   

 I use the Stamping Station every other week or so.  They love this one!  Normally, I have words written in the first column.  But, since this is a review week- they are able to write their own words and then stamp them out.  This Melissa and Doug Stamping Set has been the best one I have found!  It is durable and plus it has a great container to keep them in. 

 This was a Short O Lollipop Sort that I used at the beginning of the year.  We reviewed with it this week, and they flew threw this station.  I loved that because it gave some of them some issues in the beginning, and now- they were really good at doing this one and using their time wisely.  Plus, they were able to write sentences with these words after they finished sorting.  How they have already grown in just two months!

 The pink and yellow cards are from a station where we added -s and -ing to words.  They had a recording sheet that went with this one.  They were color-coded so that they knew to add -s to the green cards and -ing to the pink cards. 

The last one for today is the Noun station.  This is a Noun Sorting Activity where they have a sheet that allows them to sort nouns into people, animals, places, and things.  There are also a couple of verbs thrown in that they have to list at the bottom in the Not a Noun table.
      I really seriously love index cards and Avery labels! 

Stations! Stations! Stations!

 So, I thought I would spend the next few weeks posting some pictures of my favorite stations.  I will start with something really simple---Rainbow Writing Word Work.  It is the simplest station, but my students always enjoy this.  We only do this one about once a month or so.  I certainly don't want them to get tired of it, but using smelly markers and colored pencils always seem to make it even more fun!

I completely forgot to include this at the beginning of the year.  This was a great way to get to know each other during the first week.  My firsties had so much interviewing their partners. 

Next week, I will continue to post station ideas each day that have been a big hit with my Firsties!

Daily Folders

This is something that just makes life so much easier for me as a parent and a teacher.  All of our teachers use these at school, and they are just a wonderful way to keep up with everything each week.  When you open these folders, they have a pocket that says 'Send Back to School' and one that says 'Keep at Home'.  Plus, I love the clear pockets on the front and back to personalize my students' folders.  Plus, they are super easy to clean.