B2S Bag of Tricks (Newsletters & 1st Week)

Hey, everyone! This is Crystal from Once Upon a Classroom: The Tale of Two Teachers! I'm here with more tricks that I keep in my back to school bag! 

The first one is organizing classroom newsletters. My first couple of years teaching, I gave my families paper newsletters. I loved them, but I found that they took a lot of time and wasted a lot of paper. With the way technology has become such an important part of our everyday lives, I started using Shutterfly to post classroom news and features that I had created. If there was a family that didn't have internet, I would print a paper copy, but everyone knew they could find everything on our site. 

Within my newsletters, I always include what the students are learning, important dates, and a student feature. I found that these features added a boost of excitement and made the families eager to read! The features included are: mystery student, class reporter, "Hats Off to Careers," New Year's wish and resolution, critic's corner, mystery baby, and the end of the year hopes and memories.  The pack that you will win includes everything you will need to add a little bit of spunk to your newsletters! 

The next trick that I have for making back to school fun and exciting is my First Week Fun pack! It includes the following: 

 - Back to School Survival Kit (at the beginning of the year, I have these on their desks the first day of school or at "Meet the Teacher.") The kids love them! I have included 5 different templates to choose from. 

-RAFT writing for the beginning of the year.

-Posters for each grade level that say, "Kindergarten Bright Bunch" or "1st Grade Bright Bunch." Grades K-5 are provided. This poster hangs up and then the students write about why their future in whichever grade will be so bright. This could incorporate goal setting and having a plan for the year. Then, I take their pictures wearing bright sunglasses. Paper for the students to write on is also included. This is a great bulletin board for the first couple weeks!

I hope you have enjoyed these Back to School Tricks! Be sure to stop by tomorrow to Jess' post about literacy centers! 

Crystal :) 

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B2S Bag of Tricks (decor)

Decorating a classroom can be quite the task. Do I have a theme? Do I not have a theme? How do I label things? Which way works best to organize the materials or library? What will be most inviting for the students?

I don't know about you, but I LOVE decorating my room at the beginning of the year! Choosing where things go, and what will look best is so fun for me! After 9 years of teaching, I have now had three different themes. (Frogs, monkeys, and now neon colors) I have to say, the neon has been a great one because it makes it easier when buying baskets, fabric, or labels! I feel like anything goes! However, I did love the stuffed animals, cute nook areas, and other aspects of a themed room!

To prepare for the new transformation of neon colors, I followed these steps: 

1. Found fabric for my boards and pillows. (my mom makes them!!) I decided to go with black backgrounds on the boards to make the bright colors pop! 

2. Design a decor pack with a variety of things to use. Check it out here: 

3. Raid Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Joann's etc. for baskets, and other objects that fit my theme. 

4. DECORATE!! This is the best part of preparing a classroom. Although it's tedious, it sure it fun! 

Here is my current classroom full of BRIGHT and FUN colors! 

With that being said, I decided to show you my latest classroom decor packs! With this "trick" you will get to choose whichever one works best for you! Check them out and start thinking about which one you would like to WIN!! :)

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Crystal :)

Daily 5 Math

We are all in summer mode, but let's be honest... we all know that we have thought about next year, maybe ordered supplies, or created To-Do lists. As much as I don't want to, I have been thinking about how I would like to work on my math workshop for next year. All throughout my school, the workshop model is implemented. Our students are at a variety of levels, therefore differentiation is imperative. With that in mind... let's look at how I utilize Math Workhop!

Math workhshop in my first grade classroom is set up like the Daily 5. We have Math with the Teacher, Math by Myself, Math with Someone, Write about Math, and Math with Technology. The students rotate through these during their one hour math block. To begin, I give a pretest to determine my groups. From there, I group the students based on need and content area. I meet with each group for 15 minutes, and provide them with differentiated instruction. When they come to math with the teacher, no lesson looks the same. This takes a lot of planning, but I know I'm meeting the needs of each learner. While I'm meeting, the students rotate through a variety of centers. Take a look... 

Math by Myself - during this rotation, the students are expected to sit at their seats and works silently. This independent work usually comes from the Everyday Math workbook, worksheets, or individual projects. The students are held accountable for their work by turning it all in on Friday. 

This shows an example checklist that I make for each student. It shows their rotations for the week. They have gotten in a great habit of checking things off as they go. All the papers they need for the week are stapled there in one place! 

Each student has a math folder to keep their materials organized. 

Folders and iPads are kept in a central location. 

Math with Someone - during this rotation, students work with a partner. Somteimes I assign them, and sometimes I let them choose their own. The activities that they work on are usually task cards. However, there are times when they will get to play a game, or choose a math center. The expectation is that they produce quality partner work and use 6 inch voices to ensure those around them can concentrate. 

Students work together to figure out task card problems! 

These centers stay the same all year. This is a great "go-to" in case of early finishers! 

Write about Math - I knew that I needed to incorporate writing in math as much as I could. My students are young and they are only going to benefit from this practice early on. Thankfully, I found this AMAZING resource that I use to help my students grow in this. Go check it out HERE! 

Math with Technology - this is probably one of the student favorites! I have 7 iPads in my room! At the beginning of the year, I found a variety of free apps that the students would love. In addition, we installed IXL. Typically, this is what the students complete during the technology rotation. Every once and awhile, I will let them choose a math game. My biggest advice with this is that you have to monitor them closely, and set the expectations early on. If any of their graded centers are not completed, they are not allowed to use the iPad. 

We LOVE QR codes in math! 

 Next year, I would like to try and make my math block longer and incorproate mini lessons. This is one of the pieces that my math workshop is missing. Right now, we use math talks, MARS tasks, and reengagement lessons, but use the whole block. If I could find 15 minutes to spare (good luck, right?) I'd like to add that component. 

Here are some products that will help you get started with Math Workshop! 

    Daily 5 Math Planning Pages

Math Extravaganza

Summer Lovin'

Hey, friends! This is Crystal from Once Upon a Classroom: The Tale of Two Teachers! I'm so excited to be back for another blog post. Let's start with a little about what's going on in my life right now...

I just finished my MASTERS!! WAHOO! (insert Happy Dance!) I am scheduled to take my exams in June, and then will have my Reading Specialist endorsement.

Spring is in the air in Chicago, and I'm only 1 1/2 weeks away from running my first marathon! Wish me luck! (I will need it!)

I got some new glasses...

I moved all the furniture out from the walls and cleaned the floors! Crazy, right? However, with these wood floors, it HAD to be done! 

And finally, I'm about to end my first year teaching first grade with these lovelies! Here we are on a field trip at the Adler Planetarium! 

So many fun things are going on in our room. The first grade students at my school continue to amaze me on a daily basis. I always think I will stump them with certain math problems, or reading skills, yet they always come back with some awesome question or response. We are constantly growing and challenging each other. 

In the next three pictures, my students are taking part in a re-engagement lesson from a formative assessment we took. After the students take this, I analyze their responses and put a variety of them on the board. With their whiteboards, the students look at the problem again, and decide which answers are right and which are wrong. Then, they have to EXPLAIN their thinking. Not only does this allow them to analyze math to a deeper level, it creates wonderful, rich discussion about mathematical practices. 

In these two pictures, my students are paraphrasing text! While reading both fiction and nonfiction, we stop, think, and then paraphrase the text. This skill helped lead into our next unit of study on summarizing. It was really great to hear them thinking, asking questions, and then using the ideas of the text in their own words. 

Be sure to check out my new product! It's on sale until Sunday! Enjoy!

Crystal :)

Saturdays in Spring - Week 4

Our "Saturdays in Spring" is coming to a close, but we have some surprises in store! Last week, our lucky commenters received the full product from the freebies that they downloaded. This week, we have a giveaway going on to win a $25 Teachers Pay Teachers gift card! Check it out below:

Andrew from Mr. First Grade is sharing 20 Floral Papers - beautiful digital paper to use in any creation.

Alyssa from Just A Primary Girl is sharing Monthly Calendar Journals - it includes skills such as money, fact families, time, place value, and weather.

Carrie from Table Talk with C and C is sharing Animals QR Code Cards - an interactive activity for students to use with any animal unit.

Crystal from Once Upon a Classroom: Tale of Two Teachers is sharing Party Planning Math Practice - a fantastic way to practice addition and subtraction money problems.

Serena from Magic Mistakes and Mayhem is sharing Flower Power Clip Art - a fun set of bright flowers that are perfect for any spring product.

Be sure to enter the amazing giveaway!!

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All the teachers at Collaboration Connection are working hard to bring you the best posts, ideas, products, etc. As a teaching community, it is important for us to collaborate and share! We really hope you have enjoyed the freebies that have been presented throughout the last four weeks. Please be sure to us individually too, to see what else we have going on! Enjoy these freebies, and good luck!!

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!

Saturdays in Spring - Week 2

Happy Saturday!

We are back with our second week of, "Saturdays in Spring!" Thank you so much for all your kind comments left from last week. The contributors of "Collaboration Connection," love sharing with you all and learning from one another.

With that being said, we are here to provide you with another round of great freebies! We hope that you are able to find these tools valuable within your classroom. Please share our blog, Instagram, and Facebook with your other teacher buddies so they can get in on the freebies too!

Have a wonderful Saturday everyone!

Here are this week's freebies:

Serena from Magic Mistakes & Mayhem is sharing Funky Flower Clip Art - bright flowers with crazy patterns and colors are perfect for spring.

Alyssa from Just A Primary Girl is sharing Riddle Me This & That Sample - a great unit of sight word riddles for reading review.

Carrie from Table Talk with C & C is sharing Spin Me Round - a fun double digit addition game perfect for small groups, math centers, or independent practice.

Karen from An Apple A Day in First Grade is sharing a Fluency Poster -  this would be a good addition to any classroom.

Jessica from Covered in Glitter and Glue is sharing Glitter Girl Font - this cute font would be perfect for any creation.

Crystal from Once Upon A Classroom: The Tale of Two Teachers is sharing As A Matter of Fact - this unit has some wonderful activities for teaching solids, liquids, and gases. 

Emily from I Love My Classroom is sharing End of Year Student-Made Brochures - 

Ashley from Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd is sharing a Reading Response Freebie - a flip flap book that would be fantastic for any guided reading group or independent practice.

*Click on the pictures or titles above to download your freebies!

We hope you enjoy these fabulous freebies and be sure to check back next Saturday for more!!