Huge Giveaway!!

   There is a huge giveaway going on at Second Grade Nest - click here to get to link. There are so many fabulous products -  check it out before it goes - last day 5 January!!

Tally Mark Work

 



We have been working on tally marks and found this great tally mark activity for review. Get it here

Centers

This is the rotation board - we only do centers 2x a week

I know one should really not group by ability so instead I often have them working on the same activities, just tailored to their individual needs. However, sometimes I do need to group by ability as I am not going to pair for example a high reading ability with a low-level reading ability - both students would just get frustrated and I wouldn't get a true picture if the students understand the assignment. Where I do often pair different levels is the Smartboard Activities. I do have this as a center choice and I have sent up individual folders on the desk top for groups to access.  I have taught the children how to access the folders and all activities in the folders are things we have already completed in class.

Each of my centers are stored in plastic drawers and labeled by both center and color.

Working on a Missing Addends Activity - Get this activity in my TPT Store here.

All activities are stored in plastic bags and color coded. Children usually complete a sheet after they have completed the activity that ties in with whatever they are working on.  All sheets are kept in their center folder and I review every couple of weeks.

Working at the smartboard

Centers are always a work in progress and would love to hear your ideas.

Freebie!!

   Hello Fellow Teachers,

We are reviewing halves and doubles addition/subtraction facts.

Here is a link to this freebie I made to use in centers or small groups. Hope you all enjoy it!!

Awesome Give A Away!!

 Hop on over to Surfing to Success here for a great give a way!! Mercedes has 3 different bundles she is giving away. The more times you enter, the more chances to win awesome products you can use in your classroom today!! Good Luck!!

Another Linky Party!!

   Hey all, cannot get enough of these Linky Parties to help promote the TPT sale. This latest link up is over at Charlotte's Clips and Kindergarten Kids.  

Here is also a freebie from me here to work on contractions!

Enjoy!!

Thank you!!

A thank you to Mercedes Hutchens over at Surfing to Success - I responded to her for a chance to win her new doodle clip art - can't wait to use it!! Thanks so much!!

SALE!!

                                     Get up to 28% off my products this coming Monday and bonus Tuesday!!Click
                                     here for the link to my store. Thanks for looking!!

Linky Party!!

I have joined my first Linky Party here where teachers post their favorites and they are all on sale!! These are for math and science. Check it out!!Hope you find something wonderful for your classroom!!

Drop Box

I just have to tell you how much I love Dropbox for all my files and photos. I do not even carry a USB key anymore. Any files I want to keep in drop box or pages I find surfing the net I just pop into my drop box and I can access it from anywhere. I set up individual file folders within Dropbox to organize things I find so they are not just random all over the place. For example, if I am at home and searching on Pinterest for a freebie to go with a lesson I am teaching, I download the freebie and pop it right into my Dropbox folder so the next day at school, I can open up Dropbox and voilá - it's there! It is also great for sharing photos and videos with family and friends.

So simple and ingenious. Spread the love. Download Dropbox here.

Choosing Groups

I just love to find neat ideas to make my classroom work better. Trolling the boards today, I came across this neat little idea for choosing partners for group activities from a middle school teacher. It was one of those "why didn't I think of that idea"- so simple.  Click here for the cards and happy grouping!!

Differentiation

I popped over to a  Differentiated Kindergarten site yesterday and saw some great ideas to get me moving in the right direction to make sure I am reaching all the children in my class as I have many levels and it is a bit extreme.

I picked up a Pirate Differentiated Activity and a Subtraction Differentiated Activity at Differentiated Kindergarten. Click here for the links.




I made a number sort that is differentiated to 3 levels as well. If you are interested, please click on my store link here.

Check back next week to see what other freebies I find trolling these great blogs.

This is much harder to keep up with than I thought. This past week, I found two great writing activities on pinterest. One was fromhttp://first-grade-fever.blogspot.fr/2011/08/hippo-ray-for-1st-grade-writers.html The children loved sharing about their summer. I am very jealous, these kiddos are world travelers!!

The next writing activity is tied in with the bucket filler series. I started this two years ago, and I just think it is a fantastic ongoing activity for the classroom. I won't explain it here as many people are already in the know about it, and if not check out all the buzz at pinterest.   I use plastic buckets purchased from Oriental Trading Company and the buckets hang from a plastic shoe holder. I keep bucket filler paper by the buckets so the children can "fill a bucket"whenever they have free time. I hang all my bucket fillers that I receive on my wall by my desk and keep them always. They are treasures. Here is the link for the paper: http://teacherbitsandbobs.blogspot.fr/2011/09/bucket-fillers-activity.html

Well, here we are a new school year!! I love my new class of first graders! These first 1/2 days we focused mostly on classroom expectations and behaviors. While I don't have a classroom theme, I loved the "Rockin Behavior Clip Chart" from the Inspired Apple Blog:

http://theinspiredapple.blogspot.fr/

Here is a photo of the chart in my classroom.  The children already have said, Oh, I never want to be "singin the blues"!!                           

We also did two fun first day of school activity. One was a "Find a Friend"Activity. After much modeling, the children understand what to do and were going around the room asking their classmates the questions. I loved it!! Here is a link to my store for this activity:

www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-Activity-Find-a-Friend

We also did a bit of writing so I could see what they could do in terms of phonics, spelling, capital letters and full stops. I found this great writing activity. I apologize as I am not sure where it came from - I think LessonPlan Diva, but if anyone knows, please let me know so I can give credit to the correct person.

I have also discovered Dropbox. If you don't have this app, this is a must have!! All your storage in one place! No more "Where is my USB key?" Check it out at this link:

https://www.dropbox.com/

Summer Wrap-Up

Lucky for some of us we are still whittling away our last days of summer and preparing our classrooms for fall searching TPT and pinterest for great classroom ideas.

I am excited as I purchased an Ipad for my classroom and am busy searching ideas for what to do with one Ipad in your classroom. Below is a great link to some ideas



One Ipad In the Classroom