B2S Bag of Tricks {Begin with the End in Mind!}

Hi Friends, It's Jessica from Tales of a First Grade Teacher

Begin with the end in mind! This is the best tip/trick I could give you for anything and everything you will do as a teacher. From your teaching, to your training, to your bulletin boards. That has been a motto in my district for the last year or so. But when you think about it, it really makes sense. 

Think about these for a minute:

When your kids come to you in August or September what are your expectations for behavior, learning? 
How do you expect them to sit when you are teaching? 
How do you expect them to sit on the rug?
Where do you want your students to place their completed work? 
Where do they write their names on their papers? 
What types of behaviors do you expect of your students? 
When you are doing guided reading or daily 5 what do you expect your students to be doing? 
How do you want them to do it?
I could go on and on. But the point of all of these questions is to get you to think about where do you want your students to be?
I am going to focus specifically on the training of students for independent reading centers. I personally use Daily 5, however the aspects of the Daily 5 for training students is FABULOUS!
I have read both editions of the Daily 5 by Boushey & Moser. If you have not had a chance to read this book, I highly suggest you do. As a classroom teacher for 17 years with a Master's Degree, I can tell you, this book is worth your while. I don't think I could teach or run centers any other way. Especially after reading their 10 Steps for Establishing Independence.This book and the following 10 steps, transformed me as a teacher and my students as independent learners. I always felt the need to rush. Like if I didn't get my centers started right away the world would end-- RUSH! Maybe it was the New Yorker in me? I'm not really sure why I wanted to do it all so quickly. But that side of me is no more.

Download your Copy HERE

Whether you do Daily 5, stations, or literacy centers, you need to train your students. I guarantee if you Begin with the End in Mind, you will not be disappointed. 
When I am at my guided reading table, it is my expectation that all of my students will be engaged in some form of Daily 5/Literacy activity. I do not want to have to be interrupted 427 times during my small group time to find a book, spell a word, or tell students to stop being so loud. Now, don't get me wrong some of those things do still happen from time to time. Nobody's perfect, especially me. Without a doubt, there are always kids who have trouble and take longer to build stamina. But not nearly as often or with as much frequency. In fact, the more time I take to train my students in the beginning of the year, the less this happens throughout the rest of the year.
Why Daily 5? Each Daily 5 has a purpose behind it. When you introduce each one to your class, you sit with them and ask "Why do we read?" "Why do we write?" etc..., you would be surprised how insightful 6 year olds can be when you ask for their opinion on this area. I'm never at a loss for good answers. Here is a set of posters I have in my room. You can download them HERE.

Now to the Giveaway! 
No room is ever complete without a theme! What's your theme?  The last couple of years I have had owls. I'm slowly changing over my theme this year to birds, but owls will still be present. It's good to have an idea of what you want your classroom to look like. What colors will you use? borders? patterns? etc...
I personally go for a solid bulletin board with the pizzazz on the borders and from either student work or information. Here's a few examples of simple ways to make your room fun and a calm learning environment at the same time.

Solid background, Fun borders and ribbon to hold the velcro so the word wall will be interactive.

 

CAFE is another book from Boushey and Moser. This portion focuses on  Reading Instruction in the areas of Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Expanding Vocabulary

Here is the Owl Love Alphabet, Word Wall Bundle {including the Editable Labels} You can win in this Rafflecopter! Head on down and Enter now!!

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Meet the Teacher Tips & FREEBIE!

I have more tips for you today!! This post focuses on meet the teacher night! For some, this can be a bit nerve racking... especially if you're a new teacher! I know my belly still gets butterflies when I meet new parents and students. So, here are all sorts of tips and forms for you!

Be sure to make your classroom stands out from the hallway. It makes it easier for parents to notice your room and for people in the building to direct them to your room.

For example, parents asked where my room was last year and the office said, "The classroom with the balloons at the end of the hallway."

It makes it 'cute' and welcoming for families too.

I also like to make the classroom have a bit of excitement as well! This is what my students desks looked like last year at meet the teacher night!

I provided students with a folder (well, the office did) with important paper work. I created my own informational packet which is what you see on top of the folder with the adorable graphics! I blew up balloons, wrote student names on them and taped them to the table so they didn't fly around. In the green bag there are candies and goodies I got from the party store.



Their tables were neat and clean, but still fun!



Now, I bet your wondering... what is in that packet?!!!!
You're going to get your own editable copy today with the one I completed last year as a reference! SCORE FOR YOU!!

There are cover pages other than 3rd grade. They go from K-4.
In my packet I included a blurb, my contact info, a letter to the student to tell a bit about me, a questionnaire for students to fill out about their child, class list for classroom birthdays and parties and the way I grade in the classroom.

I also included a lot of odds and ends things that parents need to know. I included information about the classroom rules, specials and what kids need to have ready each day, my behavior plan, lunch money policies, homework, volunteers, classroom parties, morning policy, spelling tests and the daily folders.

Then, I had the forms you see below set out on a table for students to fill out WHILE at my meet the teacher night! 

These papers are below the math bulletin board that you see. I had pens set out so parents didn't need to scramble for one.

Are you ready to get your packet going?!! Click below to go to google docs! Download the file and set up your own adorable packet!

Also, don't forget to enter below to win my classroom library stations.


If you want to read my tips and tricks post the click here!

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Literacy Station Tips!

If you are beginning your journey or revisiting the way you do literacy stations in your classroom then you and I are on the same page! This summer I've been reading and collaborating with other teachers and through that I've gathered a few tips. The tips are not earth shattering, but, they're very logical and great to remember as you get started and continue!

First and foremost--set up a spot in your room that clearly displays the literacy station rotation schedule.

This was my rotation board for my first graders last year: 

You can grab these here.

This year, my board is going to look different and not so 'daily 5ish' Nothing against daily 5; I'll just be teaching third grade this year and won't have the time to have a lengthy station block like I did last year (broken heart).

(I had all intentions of setting one up for you-but, I just haven't gotten to this part of my classroom decor yet. So, in the meantime a digital copy will have to do.)

Overall, there will be a total of 12 different stations. Each student will visit two stations a day. My stations this year are going to be very low maintenance because they're so content driven and well, because there are 12! :)You can grab the station cards here.

 Below are two of the resources I will be using for buddy reading, read to self and spelling station.

You can win the Classroom Library Stations below!

 Now, that we've scratched the surface of the rotation chart... let's be reminded of some important information that we must remember as we implement meaningful literacy work stations in our classroom throughout the year.

I recently heard this quote too that goes PERFECTLY with all of this!

Last year, I'll be totally honest... I didn't make my stations authentic, intentional or personal each week. Did my students enjoy stations? Yes...sometimes. Was the work beneficial?  Yes. Did I provide choice? NEVER!! I was scared and like... how do you do that? This is my personal goal this year--to follow these three words just explained above. I hope this is helping you too.

To leave you I have just a list of tips to also keep in mind this year!

Now for the giveaway!!! Enter below to win my Classroom Library Stations! It's packed with goodness!

ENTER AWAY

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Taming My File Cabinet Clutter and a Freebie

Hey teacher friends! It's Jessica from Covered in Glitter and Glue. I'm stopping by today to tell you about one of my my only summer project that I worked on for my classroom. I just couldn't find the motivation this year to do much more than that! 

I decided this summer to tame the beast that is my file cabinet. Or at least one of the drawers in my file cabinet. Let's not get too crazy. 

I wanted to move my monthly files to binders to help keep them organized and in control. In the past I would tend to find a copy of something I liked and stash it in the corresponding month's file, only to every year pull out the files a month at a time and recycle a bunch of things I didn't want or wouldn't use. In my mind, hole punching a paper and putting it in a binder is a lot more commitment to that paper, and it better be good to go through all that! 

Here are the supplies I used: 

-1/2 inch clear-view binders (one for each month of the school year)

-sheet protectors

-sticky labels (I don't know their fancy name)

-binder covers

-labels for the spines

I brought home the first half of the school year's files to begin with and whipped up some covers. Inside the binders I sorted the papers by theme (First Day of School, Back to School Night, Columbus Day, Thanksgiving, etc.) and craftivities. The themed papers I put in the front with the labels dividing them. 

The craftivities I put in the back of the binder in individual sheet protectors. 

I used some Martha Stewart labels from Staples and typed the months on them to attach to the spines of the binder and called it a day. Because really...I have no patience for binder spines. Especially for 1/2 inch binders.

I'm pretty excited with how this project turned out. When I dropped off the binders at school I realized they take up half of the space in the file cabinet drawer than the files alone did! Wahoo! 

If you're interested in my monthly binder covers, you can snag them for FREE at my Teachers Pay Teachers Store or by clicking the picture below. 

Happy Thursday everyone!

Summer Throwback--with some Freebies!

This post is coming a little late in the day, but it's Sunday so were out early to church and then came home to just relax. {I posted this last summer when I was getting my classroom ready. I am using all of these in my classroom this year as well.}
Last summer, Ashley Hughes posted some brand new papers, called Rachel Papers. They were made especially for her, from Mrslambsclass.blogspot.com. However, I really think they were made for me!! These are the exact colors of my classroom!!! I was literally the first one to leave a comment--so I think I might have been the first one to buy it.  But anyways, I immediately got to work on my new classroom alphabet and word wall set.

Chevron Chic {Chalkboard Style}

I had bought these CTP dots back in June!! I had no idea what I was going to do with them. But then it hit me!! My Word Wall!

I printed, cut and glued my little heart out!!!

They came out awesome. Now I just need to laminate and hang them.  I can't get back in my room 'til August 5th and even then, we are not allowed to use the laminator. We have a designated person for that. So I will probably have to wait even longer to get these up--so sad :(

I also made a Chalkboard alphabet with the Chevron background. I don't have a lot of wall space, so I printed them 2 per page. (look at my dog--he was so excited that I was down on the floor working, he's not allowed anywhere my new couch! LOL!)

Ha, can you see my toes?  I had to stand on my dining room chair to get this shot!!

I also started on my next most favorite awesome project for the upcoming school year.  My co-worker this year had a "working folder" where she put all sorts of useful information into clear sleeves and then fastened them in a folder.  I took the concept and decided to cut and paste what I had onto file folders.  I made up a bunch of labels and printed them out. 
You can find them here Student Executive File-FREEBIE

My Student Executive Files

The alphabet chart is from Maria Manore at Kinder-Craze you can find the alphabet chart {HERE}-Free
The Digraphs and Blends on the right  are from Lacey at Wild About Teaching. Find it {HERE}-Free
The long deskplate with more digraphs and vowel teams is from the Clever Classroom. Find it {HERE} 
I also added a blend deskplate to the back that I forgot I bought, also from the Clever Classroom. You can find that {HERE}

The 3 Daily 5 signs down the center are from Lori from Teaching with Love and Laughter. What I did was print the 3 pages to 1 page by changing my printer settings.  I will probably also use them at their normal size so the class will have a reference for their file.  You can find her Daily 5 Goodies {Here}-Free.
I have a new product out as well, that is having a Flash Freebie as you read this today.  Head on over and grab it before the day is done! I will be back to full price tomorrow.  Newsletters for All Seasons   is an editable file. It has 12 different templates with a variety of seasonal/monthly graphics. If you are able to get this for free please leave some love in the feedback and comments below. I hope you can use these great items in your classroom this year!
Enjoy,

Saturdays in Spring - Week 3

Can you believe we are already in week 3 of our "Saturdays in Spring" series? We can't thank you all enough for stopping by, reading our blog, and grabbing our freebies. Please remember to share this with other friends!

Because we appreciate each of our followers, we wanted to add a little something more to this week and next week's post. Check it out:

At the end of this post, leave a comment about what kinds of posts you would like to see as we enter the summer months. Are there certain topics that would interest you for end of the school year activities, or maybe getting ready for a new school year? Leave us your thoughts and we will choose someone for yet another free product! Be sure to include your email address so we can send the winner some surprises!

Here are this week's freebies:

Carrie from Table Talk with C and C is sharing End of the Year QR Code Activities - a fun way to keep your students motivated and working hard at the end of the year.

Crystal from Once Upon a Classroom: The Tale of Two Teachers is sharing Scoopin Up Singular and Plural Possessives - a fantastic way to teach students about possessive nouns.

Alyssa from Just A Primary Girl is sharing 1st Grade Dolch Sight Word and Sentence Practice - Insectigating - a fun way for students to use context clues to pick out sight words.

Caitlin from Table Talk with C and C is sharing Money Flipbook - a great way to learn/review students' knowledge of coins.

Ashley from Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd is sharing Sandy Synonyms and Antonyms - a wonderful way to practice synonyms and antonyms.

Emily from I Love My Classroom is sharing Organizing Chaos - the perfect way for any teacher to get organized at the end of the school year.

Amanda from For His Glory is sharing Kindergarten Prep Handout - a great handout that provides parents with a list of early developmental skills their children need for success as they enter school.

Be sure to leave a comment about what kinds of posts you would like to see as we enter the summer months. Don't forget to include your email address so we can send the winner some surprises!