New September decor and some FREEBIES!

Last week I went ahead and put up all my September decor.  I was getting tired of all the back to school stuff and I needed a change.

My friends immediately knew I had redecorated.  If you want the word wall cards, you can get them HERE for Free!

Michael's has a ton of cute apple stuff.  And it's all on SALE!

I love Burlap in the Fall...

To go with our new word wall cards, I also made some little booklets where my friends could practice putting words in sentences.  You can get this book for Free HERE.

I was really excited about these adorable burlap bags for my listen to reading books.  They were 75% off and are the perfect size for a little book and CD player.

This is the first pack of a yearlong bundle.  I like for my students to be doing something a little more meaningful during Daily 5 and I also wanted something to coincide with our LetterLand Phonics program.  I usually introduce one center a day and then let my students fly with it.  

To save paper, I printed two cover mats and laminated them.  The students spin the spinner and read a word with the matching vowel.  I gave them a little box of apple erasers to add some interest :)

This center is a little trickier because we have accents round here y'all!

The students have to pull a card and listen to the vowel sound and sort.

Then they have to stretch out the word and record it under the matching vowel.

I think they like this one the best because it involves coloring!  The friends pull a card, determine the missing vowel, and color it next to the correct number.

Nonsense word fluency is a biggie on our MCLASS assessment and so I try to incorporate it in as many activities as I can.  I put all the words in a little basket and the friends pull a card.  They read it and sort them onto their mats.

Then they record the words into "Real or Rotten."

I have a full first semester of phonics centers ready to go and it's on Sale!  There are a total of 24 centers to last you through 4 months.

If you are interested, you can see them HERE.

Have a great week friends!

Five for Friday (Back to School)

I am SOOOO glad it's FRIDAY!  Thank you Jesus!  I have been to 4 states in 4 different weeks and I ain't going ANYWHERE this weekend.  I'm tired.

I'm making this one short and sweet with a Link Up with Doodle Bugs Teaching!

Last weekend Scott's company had a meeting/family retreat at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville.  It was beautiful.  The hotel itself is very interesting and very historical.  

This is the view from the Spa...under the ground!

I had an amazing parent donate a gift card to get bean bags for our Read to Self Center.  

#amazing

Now my reading nook is so cozy!  I've had many people ask how I keep my students from fighting.  Well, I only have four friends in a group.  When it's their turn for Read to Self, they have to decide who will sit in it the first day and who the next.  Then they just flip flop days.  Of course there are always some sweet ones that say, "You can go first!" and I have to reward their kindness :)

As I said before, I like to keep my centers as EASY PEASY as possible at the beginning of the year.

This pack helps me do just that!

At first I had the students using play dough to build the words.  Then I found these blocks in the dollar section at Target.  I added those and BOOM!  We've added more interest!  When September rolls around I'll change out the mats and have them build with something else like sand, stamps, etc.  Super easy to keep the interest going!

Work on Writing is always a little trickier at the beginning of the year.  I created this pack to help ease my friends into the routines and expectations for my centers for the remainder of the year.  Every pack for every month stays the same.  The only thing that changes are the writing prompts, the theme and the border around the writing paper.  That way, once my students get the hang of it, I no longer have to explain how to do anything - I just switch out the materials.

For back to school purposes I only introduce one thing at a time and add something new after a few days.

The first activity I added was labeling.  I have some friends in my class that aren't quite writers yet and I wanted them to have something they could feel successful with.  I print the pieces on card stock and laminate.  They use a word bank to label the words.  Super easy!

Narrative writing is the next thing I introduce and put in the writing center.  Many of them are still getting used to routines let alone have enough stamina to write for 20 minutes but I do have some friends that are interested in this option and can handle more rigorous writing.

Sticker Stories are ALWAYS a hit!  Right now, I'm still trying to train them on writing sticker stories - not sticker sentences.  This is something that ALL my friends enjoy and feel successful with.  You can get my sticker story template HERE FOR FREE.

So far, my students have had several options in their Work on Writing center.  This week I introduced Letter Writing.  (Keep in mind, I'm at a year round school and have been in school for three weeks.)

The letter writing was a huge hit (and I think it was because of the envelopes they get to make to put the letters in :)

Now me and Rosco plan to do NOTHING this weekend but sleep and eat :)

Have a great weekend friends!

Open House, Back to School, The First Day, Freebies, AGGGHHHH!!!

This week the most PRECIOUS babies walked into my room!  They just melt my heart.  If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that I've been in Florida.  We skated into North Carolina on Sunday and I was at work on Monday.  No down time.  I have just a few things that I pull out at the beginning of the year to get the ball rolling and help me manage some of the building stress.

New Book Nook!

We were only out of school for three weeks and I didn't do much rearranging in my room.

I did, however, create a cozier book nook area.  Now all I need are some giant bean bags.  But my husband checked my account and I am in trouble for the next few months so I'll have to wait and see if I can sneak some bean bags in later.  You can read about my original room arrangement HERE.

 I went to IKEA and got these pink and green magazine boxes to hold all my themed books for the year.  The labels came from Maria Monore of Kinder Craze.  I've said it once before and I'll say it again.  These were SO worth the money.  They just make my life so much easier!

Open House

Open house was a good turnout.  I made sure I had treats for kids and adults alike!

I like to make sure I give parents a treat.  It's just to let them know right off the bat that I appreciate them so I put a little bag of popcorn into their envelopes of information.  "Popping in"....see what I did there???

And what first grader doesn't like goldfish?  I made little tags and taped them to the front of the bags...

And then put them in these little bags I found at Target.  Aren't they precious?  I also included a few tiny erasers and a pencil.

I also make sure all parent information is put into a basket right at the sign-in table.  After they took  an information pack, they checked their name off.  That way, if parents weren't able to come in, I could see who needed a pack sent home on Monday.

While parents are signing in and reviewing information, I let the new friends do a little craft.  This year they made a bus.  I got the template from Keeping Life Creative.

I put all the pieces in a bag so they can grab one and go!

Didn't they turn out so darn cute???  These will go in their memory bags that will be sent home at the end of the year.

Centers

Centers for Daily 5 will go SLOW and STEADY at the beginning of the year.  I like to keep things as simple as possible.

I created new word wall words with a back to school theme.  I think I have word wall words for every month!  You can get these for free HERE.

I created a little book of back to school words.  It's very simple.  They pic a word from the wall, draw a picture and put it in a sentence.  You can get this book for free HERE.

At writing center I also include "community notebooks."  The topic is on the front and the students just write inside them.  I usually do these for about a month and then put them away.  I use the same ones for a few years so the students this year can read last year's work!  I just print the labels out on stickers (the ones that are 10 to a page).  You can get those free HERE.

For my students to practice sight words, I use this pack.

It's super easy and all you do is add play dough and markers.  Then to add interest, you switch out the mats for the new season!

I only use a few sight words at the beginning of the year and I add more and more as we learn them.  I have to say that this center is a no brainer, but I need them entertained and quiet while I do beginning of the year assessments!

I also have a cute little bucket where I'll put all the pieces to Nicole's Short Vowel Puzzles.  Once again, I like to keep it EASY PEASY at the beginning of the year and these little puzzles do just the trick!

Morning Routines/Seatwork

I hate to say it, but the first few weeks of school I can't be bothered with morning work.  Mornings are crazy with trying to explain procedures: unpack, get new daily five books, check in, yada yada.

This pack made it really easy for me because they just pulled it out of their chair pockets and started working.

The activities are simple.  A lot of coloring...

and drawing...

BUT, the great thing is that this IS a memory book.  I plan on putting this in my students memory pouches to take home at the end of the year.

Okay teacher friends, hopefully you found a few pieces that might be able to help you this year!  Good luck with Back to School!