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Monday, March 30, 2015

Makeover Monday 3/30

It's time for another Makeover Monday!


Our makeover packet this week is my Fry Word {The First 100} Packet. It was time for this packet to have an overhaul!  If you already purchased this packet, go to the "My Purchases" section of you account and download it again for the updated version!


This packet includes flash cards, connect four game, and fry word printables.  The flash cards can be used for a word wall or matching game also.  Just print 2 copies of the cards and you have quick game for students to play. Here is the Makeover re-do!


You can grab it up by clicking HERE or in the link-up below!

This link-up is here to offer products that have been updated, added to, or revamped at a discounted price!  It may be new clipart, added page count, or a total overhaul! Be sure to check back each Monday to grab up some great limited time deals!  Each product is offered at at least a 20% discount for the next 48 hours...you may even find a few $1 deals mixed in!



Friday, March 27, 2015

Five for Friday (with freebies)

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Cookie-Excavation-Freebie-1180251Every year, we study dinosaurs and my kinders LOVE learning how to be a paleontologist.  This resource is free in my TpT store.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Cookie-Excavation-Freebie-1180251
This week we studied dinosaurs.  We read many nonfiction books, but one of our favorite stories was the fictional story, Dinosaurs Love Underpants.  I did not have any clipart of underpants, so I tried my hand at clipart.  It is free on TpT.  Just click the picture below.
If you are interested in the unit, Dinosaurs Love Underpants, it is available in my TpT store.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Undies-Clipart-Freebie-1182591
 https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Dinosaurs-Love-Underpants-Literacy-Resources-1766733
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Undies-Clipart-Freebie-1182591
This week we our curriculum map math standards involved measuring.  We measured everything!!  My kinders mostly enjoyed walking throughout the room measuring with either cubes, toothpicks, pencils, or paper.  They had a choice what to measure with.  Then they recorded their answers on the recording sheet.  It is free below.  Just click here or on the picture.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzpXgmOIGg-saVdjSDBlMWsySlk/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzpXgmOIGg-saVdjSDBlMWsySlk/view?usp=sharing
I decided that I needed more hands-on literacy stations.  I wanted to use my sand table, so I added seashells with sight words.  The kids love it!
 Karen Jones has an EXCELLENT math resource on Teachers Pay Teachers.  It is called The Ultimate Math Bundle.  The kiddos in the picture above are using the printable from The Ultimate Math Bundle.  However, instead of the snakes, the kiddos are using Smarties and a paper plate.  The paper plate is cute in half.  Students put the number of candies on each half then push the paper plate together to see "how many in all".  
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-ULTIMATE-Printable-Math-Pack-1068596
Endless Possibilities,
Stephanie

Monday, March 23, 2015

Makeover Monday 3/23

It's time for another Makeover Monday!

This link-up is here to offer products that have been updated, added to, or revamped at a discounted price!  It may be new clipart, added page count, or a total overhaul! Be sure to check back each Monday to grab up some great limited time deals!  Each product is offered at at least a 20% discount for the next 48 hours...you may even find a few $1 deals mixed in!



Saturday, March 21, 2015

Creating Safe QR Codes for the Classroom!

There are TONS of great YouTube videos available for a first grade standards.   I don't know how many times I have relied on these videos to have my back when I need to deal with a variety of other issues...(we all know what those issues could be!)  
I've also mastered the "Dive over Students, Blocking the Projection, and Muting the Volume" dance that accompanies the ads associated with some of these YouTube videos.  Of course most of the time it isn't too bad explaining the benefits of probiotics yogurt to 1st graders (thanks Jamie Lee Curtis!)... but you never know if you might end up with the ad for the next  most violent video game.  

Here is a way to  save the videos you  love from YouTube without the risk of those pesky ads!  You can also create your own QR codes that you quickly scan to view videos on the topics you are learning about!







Keep your students SAFE by using SAFESHARe when viewing videos!  


Happy viewing!
Stephany 

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Attention Grabbers (with videos)

It is amazing to me how many teachers use Teachers Pay Teachers.  I know it really has changed my life and way of teaching.  Resources are right at my fingertips, ideas posted on some of my favorite blogs, and best practices are discussed by a collaborative group of teachers, like myself.  I tell others, TpT is one of the greatest PDs and collaborative educational resources there is.
My top seller on Teachers Pay Teachers is my Attention Grabbers packet.  It has been pinned over 2,000 times!!  That just blows my mind!!  Many teachers from all different grade levels and from other states have purchased this classroom management tool for their classrooms.



https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Attention-Grabbers-Behavior-Management-331546

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Attention-Grabbers-Behavior-Management-331546

Here are a few videos of my students reciting some of the Attention Grabbers in this resource pack.  These are not the greatest videos, but they will give you an idea of how they work.  When the teacher says something, the kids have a response.  It allows students to talk... (they are just saying what you want them to say and not off task).




Not only has it been a great product for me on TpT, but it has also had the most meaningful feedback.  These are just a couple...

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Attention-Grabbers-Behavior-Management-331546

Click here to view this product.

Endless Possibilities,
Stephanie

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Shake It Off with Freebie





These videos are not the best but they will give you a good idea of what my students did to "shake off" their sight words.





https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzpXgmOIGg-sVmV1UDhBaldEaXM/view?usp=sharing

Endless Possibilities,
Stephanie

Monday, March 16, 2015

Makeover Monday

We are excited to host our first Makeover Monday!

Our makeover this week is my Cause & Effect Packet.  It was one of the first packets that I made for TpT.  I totally revamped the clipart used for this packet and made sure to use as many images per page to save card stock.  Plus, I've switched out the clipart!  I also changed the fonts to a more student friendly font!  If you already purchased this packet, go to the "My Purchases" section of you account and download it again for the updated version!




This link-up is here to offer products that have been updated, added to, or revamped at a discounted price!  It may be new clipart, added page count, or a total overhaul! Be sure to check back each Monday to grab up some great limited time deals!  Each product is offered at at least a 20% discount for the next 48 hours...you may even find a few $1 deals mixed in!



Sunday, March 15, 2015

iTeach First!



Friends.
I have a very exciting announcement to make! 
I have decided to team up with some of my very best first grade buddies to write for a collaborative blog! 
That means ONE blog with TONS of great ideas from several super awesome First Grade teachers! 
(Don't worry, we will still be posting here!)


One thing I L-O-V-E about this blog, is you will know exactly what to expect each day of the week.  For every day, there is a blogging theme.  Check them out! 



I'm SO excited to get started on this new adventure, and am thrilled to invite you along for the ride.  Let's celebrate with a little giveaway!  



a Rafflecopter giveaway
Can't wait to get started sharing some great First Grade ideas with you!

Stephany

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Lucky Leprechauns and a Freebie!

We have Spring Break next week so we celebrated St. Patrick's Day this week with Leprechaun Traps, a Leprechaun led scavenger hunt, and a Lucky Lime Float to finish off the day!

I send home a letter to parents asking them to send in a box for the trap and any other items they would like to donate.


We always start with a blueprint when making our traps.  We discuss how architects make blueprints of buildings... they draw the front but they also draw the building like they are hovering above it.  Architects also label all of the important details.  They also make a list of the materials that they will need for their traps.



They share their ideas and explain how it will work.  We troubleshoot and decide how they will make a door stay shut after the leprechaun has tripped a cord to make it close, how to keep the leprechaun from climbing out, and other leprechaun related issues. :)  It's fun listening to them discuss the different forms of leprechauns based on the fictional leprechauns that we read about that week...how a certain trap might not work because the leprechaun was bigger in one story or smaller in another.  

 I usually put out a huge variety of supplies for the students to choose from when they are building their traps.  You can find so many great supplies at Dollar Tree.  Notice the big containers of glitter in the back....


And this is what you get when you turn your head for 5 minutes to wrap boxes and cut doors... some blingin' traps!  What leprechaun could resist all that sparkle?!  The girls know what they are doing (and they can go through two whole bottles of glitter in record time)!


I always love the kids who just go off in their own little corner of the room and come back with a trap that they are so proud of!





Once we have built the trap, the kiddos set them up around the room.  They record their honest prediction for their own trap... Do they think it will work?  We were about 50/50 this year!

After we set the traps, we waited for a bit in the room but then we found a note from the leprechaun that sent us on a scavenger hunt through the building to find our missing Lucky Lime Float ingredients.



After we found all of our ingredients, we rushed back to the room to find that all the traps had been set off but no leprechauns had been caught!  The leprechaun had left us some new pencils and some treats for our efforts.  We used all of the ingredients that we found to make our Lucky Lime Floats.  They are totally delicious and super easy to make.  The kiddos love them every year!




You can get the Leprechaun Trap and Lucky Lime Float activities in this packet!  Just click on the image below to go grab it up!   



Also, grab up this ABC order (late) Friday freebie!  It's great for station work, centers, small group work and more!  Click on the image below to download!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Stephany